By ADAM SICHKO
Albany Business Review

Business groups met with members of the state Assembly on Tuesday to lobby for their support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to restrain property taxes.

The 25 lobbies and chamber groups pushed back against talk from Democrats, who control the Assembly, about altering Cuomo's plan to exclude major costs or put in place a temporary measure that will "sunset," or expire.

The scheduled legislative session ends June 20, and business groups want action before then.

"No exemptions or sunsets. Otherwise, you are just watering down the bill," said Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate, based in Rochester.

"The Assembly majority needs to push the speaker (Sheldon Silver, of Manhattan) to move the bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote," Sampson said.

Businesses paid $21 billion of property taxes last year, a 6 percent increase at a time when a lot of property values fell in the aftermath of the recession. Property taxes are often the largest tax a business pays.

Cuomo's plan would allow taxes to rise each year by no more than 2 percent, or inflation, whichever is smaller. The bill has passed the Republican-led Senate in a bipartisan 45-17 vote, but it faces much more opposition in the Assembly.

Schools, unions and local governments warn of layoffs and steep cuts in services if Cuomo's cap is put in place without giving them some measure of financial relief.

Sampson and other representatives from business groups met with 25 Assembly members, most in the Democratic majority.

The New York State Association of Realtors plans to hold its own tax-cap lobby day on May 24.