TV Ads Say Paterson’s Tax Cap Plan is “Wrong Answer”

Two television ads, one by NYSUT, the other a joint effort of the Working Families Party and the Alliance for Quality Education, and both critical of the plan—proposed by Governor Paterson and recently approved by the State Senate—to cap school property tax increases, have been making the rounds.

The NYSUT ad, called “No Foolin’,” first aired in Long Island and Albany on July 23. In it a senior citizen calls the tax cap plan a “gimmick” and goes on to inform viewers about an alternative plan known as a “circuit breaker.” NYSUT explains that a circuit breaker “prevents property taxes from ‘overloading’ a household’s budget by setting limits based on income—unlike the arbitrary, one-size-fits-all approach of the recently proposed tax cap.” The TV ad is part of a larger push that includes radio, billboard, and print ads.

The WFP/AQE ad, “Wrong Answer,” has only recently begun airing in the New York metropolitan area. [I saw it this morning on WABC-TV.] This spot also uses the word “gimmick,” but this time it’s a quote from a June 4 New York Times editorial [registration required]. The ad makes the case that similar tax caps in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts resulted in “billions in education cuts, overcrowded classrooms, teachers fired.”

The State Assembly, which will convene in an emergency session on August 19, is expected to block the measure.

The UFT is also opposed to the plan.

“No Foolin’”

“Wrong Answer”

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