NEWBURGH – By a four-to-three vote Monday night, the Newburgh City Council hiked property taxes for homeowners and business owners. The majority rejected another proposal that would have lowered homeowner taxes and substantially raised business property owner taxes.
The bottom line for the $44 million spending plan was the same in each scenario, but the minority, including Councilman Torrance Harvey, said the residential homeowners, in particular, senior citizens, cannot afford any tax hike.
Under the plan approved, homeowner taxes will increase by 13 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation while business property taxes will increase by 30 cents per $1,000.
The plan that was rejected would have decreased homeowner taxes by 16-cents per $1,000, but would have hiked business property owner taxes by 71 cents per $1,000.
Harvey said the homeowners are the losers with the 2017 city budget.
“Just like they take the interests of the businesses in votes in the House of Representative and the United States Senate, corporate America always wins,” he said. “The almighty dollar always takes precedent over human lives. The businesses are the ones that won tonight.”
Mayor Judy Kennedy, a senior citizen herself who said she had to sell her house last year because she could not afford the taxes, disputed Harvey’s contention.
“They say we voted in favor of business,” Kennedy said. “I voted in favor of the whole city. I voted in favor of fairness; I voted for shared burden.”
All council members agreed on one thing – that more rateables are needed to assume more of the tax burden.
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