Preserve SALT Deduction – ECB Groups Send Letter to Congress
The proposed changes to the current State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT) in both one-house tax reform bills would be devastating for public education in our state.
Under various versions of the bill the SALT deduction would be either fully eliminated or a deduction of $10,000 for property taxes only would be preserved. Either version would significantly damage taxpayers in New York State and the public school districts that we work on behalf of, even if the conference committee authorizes the $10,000 cap to include state and/or local income tax as the conferees are currently considering.
If you support a conference committee proposal that does not fully preserve the SALT deduction, it is likely that the public schools in your districts will no longer be able to provide the programming and opportunities that they currently provide, that their voters support, and their students need. Any changes to the current SALT deduction a three-fold negative impact would occur on public schools across your district and New York State as a whole.
First, the bill would harm New York’s overall state budget picture. The personal income tax is the state’s largest revenue source and School Aid is its largest general fund expenditure. Ending SALT deductions could drive mobile upper income taxpayers to leave our state and establish domiciles in other states. That would hurt the government’s ability to fund schools and the poorest schools rely most on State Aid.