By Hank Russell
Governor Kathy Hochul and her Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, are accusing each other of raising taxes and hurting residents.
Blakeman, who recently blasted Hochul for introducing the pied-á-terre tax — that is, a tax on second homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more — went after her again, this time for placing a “secret business tax” on companies in her 2027 budget. Blakeman said this tax will squeeze local employers and drive up prices for everyday New Yorkers.
Under Hochul’s plan, Blakeman said, businesses would be taxed immediately on money they invest in research and development, even though federal tax rules allow those costs to be fully deducted right away. Blakeman argued the proposal amounts to a hidden, $1.68 billion tax on innovation —one that will ultimately be passed on to consumers through higher prices.
“Kathy Hochul never met a tax she didn’t like, but this ‘Innovation Tax’ is a new low — even for her,” said Blakeman. “She claims she’s not raising taxes on families, but when you slam a local manufacturer or startup with a massive $1.68 billion tax burden, they have two options: cut jobs or raise prices. Either way, hardworking New Yorkers pay the price. The next time you see higher prices on a product made in New York, you can thank Kathy Hochul’s backdoor tax hikes.”
In response to Blakeman’s comments, the Hochul administration said the state was “decoupling” from the federal government’s H.R. 1 bill, which allows companies to write off investments in research and development. In a copy of a transcript from a January 20 technical briefing obtained by Long Island Life & Politics, Budget Director Blake Washington said that if the state “rode shotgun” with the federal government on this proposal, the state would have stood to lose between $1.6-$1.7 billion.
“What it allows it is, what it also does is it allows for you to expense for those projects regardless of where they were undertaken,” Washington said. “So, a state business taxpayer in the State of New York might have made an investment in Nevada, and they can write off the Nevada costs in the State of New York. So it’s just from a tax fairness perspective, it’s not one that we can support.”
Washington added, “You’re just not going to derive an additional benefit from us. You can get a benefit from the federal government still, because that, again, we’re paired with them, they’re doing something. But on the state side, we’re going to preserve our revenue base.”
Meanwhile, The New York Daily News recently published an article reporting that, in 1998 and 1999 — while Blakeman was Nassau County Presiding Officer — he voted to raise taxes by 3.6% and 9.4%, respectively. The latter tax hike was the largest tax hike since 1991, the Daily News reported.
In a November 2, 1999 article, Blakeman was quoted as saying, “At the railroad station, people came up and said they actually thought it was going to be worse,” said Blakeman. “They said they were expecting the worst and it wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be.”
“Bruce Blakeman, a black belt at lying to New Yorkers, should own up to the fact that he jacked up property taxes on Long Island twice — and lies constantly on the campaign trail about it,” said Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki. “While Governor Hochul is lowering costs and putting money back in New Yorkers’ pockets, Blakeman is squeezing families with expensive tariffs, jacked up property taxes, then tries to spin his losing record.”
Madison Spanodemos, a spokesperson for the Blakeman campaign, shot back, “Kathy Hochul would love to turn the clock back 28 years, before she made New York unaffordable and unsafe. Unfortunately for her, we’re living in reality where New Yorkers pay the highest taxes and utility bills in the nation on Hochul’s watch while Bruce Blakeman actually cut taxes in Nassau County.”