Sources: Major Tax Relief Coming In New York State Budget

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- New York state residents could soon see some tax relief.

Sources told CBS 2 that the New York State Legislature is poised to cut taxes for property owners, renters, businesses and even estates, Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported Friday evening.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature apparently have launched an effort to rework Benjamin Franklin's famous saying following the establishment of the U.S. Constitution, "(I)n this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

Cuomo and the Legislature cannot do much about the death part, but they are trying to make it easier for survivors. The new budget, according to sources, will eliminate the "move to die" tax – so described by Cuomo because some people move out of state to plan their estates because of high taxes in New York state.

Sources told CBS 2 that New York, one of a shrinking number of states that still taxes estates, will increase the estate tax exemption from $1 million to $5.34 million. That would mean 90 percent of estates in New York state would pay no taxes at all.

And advocates said the move would go a long way toward erasing Forbes Magazine's recent assessment of New York as "a place not to die."

After three years of severe belt-tightening in state spending, lawmakers were also poised this week to pass a cornucopia of other tax breaks – about $2 billion worth of cuts in all.

• Property taxes are set to be frozen for two years, saving 2.8 million people an average of $300 a year, for a total of $85 million in savings;

• There is a renters' tax credit for anyone whose adjusted gross income is under $200,000;

• There is a planned reduction in the business tax rate from 7.1 percent to 6.5 percent;

• Manufacturing tax cuts are planned;

• A phased-in elimination of the utility tax surcharge is planned.

"New Yorkers need tax relief. You have a lot of hardworking families and a lot of homeowners who are getting crushed" Cuomo said back in January. "Once we get the negatives out of the way – the high taxes out of the way – then the assets of New York can shine. Nobody has what we have here in New York."

The proposed tax package is just one part of a massive budget deal still being negotiated in Albany.

Also on the table is increasing the number of speed cameras in New York from 20 to 150, changes to the school Common Core program, and the construction of four casinos.

The deadline for a budget deal is Monday night.

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