News stories tagged with "taxation"

(08/11/11) Seneca Nation president Robert Odawi Porter is using an historic piece of cloth to deliver a message to New York State about native sovereignty. He said payment of the cloth and a small sum according to an 18th century treaty symbolizes native nations' freedom from state taxation and right to land.

The history lesson came on the same day that Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he is considering legalizing gambling in New York. That would have a profound effect on native nations and tribes around the state who rely on their casinos for revenue. Martha Foley and Dave Bullard report.

(08/08/11) This week, we're going to take a look around Indian Country in New York. Taxing native smoke shops have grabbed headlines lately. But we're going to look deeper at some of the political, economic, and social trends shaping New York's native tribes and nations.

Today, the Seneca Nation, south of Buffalo. Casinos and tobacco sales have turned it from an empoverished territory to one of the top ten employer in western New York.

The Nation's new president, Robert Odawi Porter, has taken a lead role in negotiating native issues with the Cuomo Administration.

Porter wants the Senecas to go beyond smoke shops and slot machines. He's a Harvard-educated lawyer and academic. And he wants to recast one of the darkest moments of the Seneca people into an economic boon. David Sommerstein has this profile. more

(06/06/11) The prospect of a property tax cap could heighten tensions between workers and management at public schools in the state, as both sides gear up to fight over shrinking revenues and resources.

Karen Dewitt reports from Albany. more

(04/15/11) Gov. Andrew Cuomo has put passage of a strict cap on local taxes at the top of his administration's agenda. His plan would limit school and local government property taxes to increases of 2 percent per year.

There's pushback, as schools and municipalities consider the consequences -- especially if the cap is not accompanied by a loosening of state mandates, as promised. Martha Foley has more. more

(03/14/11) A proposal to tax the rich to help balance the state's budget deficit and avoid cuts to schools is a popular idea among New Yorkers. But business groups say what's often overlooked in the debate is that the tax, in its current form, is paid by some of the state's smallest and most marginal businesses. Karen Dewitt Reports from Albany.

(03/11/11) The state budget is due in just three weeks. Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed deep cuts to New York public schools and districts here in the North Country are contemplating widespread teacher lay-offs. But a coalition of activists and educators say the state's highest income earners should pay more taxes to fund education programs and other state spending. Karen Dewitt reports from Albany. more

(03/01/11) One month before the state budget is due, support to continue a so-called millionaire's tax in New York seems to be waning, with the Assembly Speaker saying the likelihood of retaining the temporary income surcharge on the state's wealthiest is "poor." Karen Dewitt reports from Albany. more

(03/01/11) The state's former health commissioner, Dr. Richard Daines, died suddenly over the weekend. The probable cause of death was a heart attack. Daines was the public figure in former Governor Paterson's effort to pass a tax on sugary drinks. Karen Dewitt reports. more

(08/19/10) Indian tribes are banding together to fight New York's attempt to collect taxes on tobacco sold at native-owned stores. Billed as an historic gathering of the six nations that make up the Iroquois Confederacy, chiefs from the Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora Nations met outside Rochester today.

In a joint statement, they called New York "a foreign nation". And they called the Paterson Administration's move to collect cigarette taxes on reservations "an effort to erode our sovereignty."

The meeting comes a day after the Seneca Nation sued New York in U.S. District Court to block the tax collection.

Paterson says the taxes would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the cash-strapped state. The tax collection is scheduled to begin on September 1st.

The last time New York tried to collect the tobacco taxes on native lands, members of the Seneca Nation burned tires on the New York State Thruway, shutting down New York's main east-west highway.

(04/26/10) Republicans nationwide believe they're riding favorable winds to big victories in November. And the sail is emblazoned with a simple message: fiscal conservatism. The details of how the GOP would downsize government - and what that would mean for North Country jobs - is still a bit fuzzy.

Republican candidates held a meet-and-greet in Ogdensburg last week. David Sommerstein took the opportunity to ask them what they'd cut. more