Cuomo’s Sad SALT Obsession

Even when he’s begging business leaders to stay in New York, Gov. Cuomo can’t let go of his obsession with SALT. Ever since President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax reform capped the deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000, Cuomo has been on a tear looking to restore it. His problem is that it means high earners feel the full brunt of New York’s egregious taxes, making them more likely to flee to tax-friendlier climes like Florida.

But it’s a lost cause: Cuomo’s lawsuit over the issue (along with other high-tax states) failed miserably, and even President Biden isn’t looking to kill the Trump cap. So wailing about it is pointless, except as a distraction from the real root problem of New York’s big-spending, and thus hightaxing, ways.

Which is clearly why, as CNBC recently reported, Cuomo keeps railing about it as he talks with business leaders and wealthy New Yorkers, urging them to stay in the state. In a Thursday night call with many of them, the network says, he gave the two issues equal weight, telling them “they should be telling people to stay in New York and to try to get SALT in the new tax bill.”

Stay here in hopes you can do the impossible, in other words: What an inspiring sales pitch.

Even when he admits New York has a high-tax problem, Cuomo dodges responsibility, saying the “problem is property taxes.” But state mandates on local governments are what cause those sky-high property taxes, and he’s never been willing to take those on.

And, in reality, the state income tax is also a big part of the problem, yet he just signed a budget that hiked income taxes on high earners to levels that rival California — where property taxes are severely limited.

Bottom line: Weakened by multiple scandals that should have him already impeached, Cuomo can’t even stop the Legislature from digging the Empire State deeper in the hole.

All he has to offer is a rant that his listeners know full well is meaningless noise.