"This is a great victory for all homeowners and is yet another tool to help local taxpayers save more off their taxes," said Assemblyman Tom Alfano as he celebrated the governor's signing of legislation he sponsored with Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli that will save taxpayers hundreds of dollars off their property tax bills by slowing tax shifts from commercial properties to residential homeowners. The tax shifts were a result of the new assessment system. "The bottom line is that the tax shift has been slowed even more and that results in lower tax bills for homeowners."

"School districts, civic associations and school board members came to me about the large shift to residential taxpayers and, quite frankly, we had to find a way to help them out," said Alfano in explaining the genesis of the bill. "We worked as a team with Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli in finding this solution which helps all homeowners," Alfano said. Alfano personally singled out School Superintendents Al Harper, Dr. John Williams, Dr. Liz Lison, Dr. Tim Lafferty and Dr. Carol Eisenberg for their support and strong advocacy of the measure. "There's no question that without their help and their respective boards of education in each community, we would have faced an uphill battle. They pushed for this bill to save school taxpayers from getting a direct hit and they should be thanked for their strong support," Alfano said.

"Measures like this, that help our homeowners save money off their taxes, is important to our community. That's why Valley Stream 13 strongly supported this new law. Valley Stream 13 is real proud of the team approach we have with Assemblyman Alfano on issues that help homeowners relieve their taxes," said Dr. Liz Lison, superintendent of Valley Stream 13 School District. Jean Fichtl, Franklin Square Board of Education member noted, "Tax relief for homeowners is a priority for the Franklin Square Board of Education. We work very hard to help our homeowners and this measure helps our taxpayers and community at large." "This is a real help to our homeowners in Elmont," said Aubrey Phillips, president of the Elmont Union Free School District Board of Education who added, "Relieving taxes and providing a quality education to our children is our priority and this new law helps us do our job."

Alfano and DiNapoli joined forces weeks ago to write what local school districts have dubbed the "1 percent bill." The bill was drafted in response to reports that local districts throughout the county and locally were facing higher tax hits to homeowners as a result from an assessment tax shift from commercial to residential taxpayers. The tax shifts in Franklin Square, Elmont, Floral Park and West Hempstead alone would have placed a greater increase in school taxes on residential homeowners. The shift was an after-effect of the new county-wide re-assessment by the County of Nassau. The Alfano-DiNapoli law will cut the shift and save school taxpayers in communities up to $200 on their tax bills.

"This was a must win for our communities and I'm so pleased that working together we made this happen so quickly," said Assemblyman Alfano who noted, "Taxpayers could have seen, in some cases, another $200 tacked on their school tax bills - well, not anymore."

Joining Alfano and DiNapoli in sponsoring the tax savings bill were Assemblymembers Harvey Weisenberg, Charles Lavine, Rob Walker, Earlene Hooper and Bob Barra. In the Senate, the bill was sponsored by State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos.