Anew Siena Research Institute poll shows that when it comes to local taxes, New Yorkers are more savvy than many politicians might think. Yes, they are upset about the growing burden of local taxes, particularly school taxes, the largest component of that burden. But when asked in a poll what they would do to ease the burden, a large majority of them were not taken in by the lure of a tax cap. Instead, when given the choice between a cap and a so-called circuit breaker approach, 75 percent chose the latter.

We hope this comes as a wake-up call to Governor Paterson and the state lawmakers who continue to push for a cap on property taxes of 4 percent a year. There’s great appeal to such a simple across-the-board solution, to be sure. Just last month, a poll found 74 percent favored the idea. Now its down to 69 percent.

More New Yorkers, it seems, are recognizing that a better alternative is the circuit breaker, which would give homeowners an income tax reduction based on the percentage of their earnings that go toward property taxes.

Unlike a tax cap, which would almost certainly have to be adjusted to accommodate unexpected economic turns — today’s sharp rise in fuel costs for school buses, for example — a circuit breaker would give a
homeowner the peace of mind of knowing that his or her school tax obligation would be limited to a fixed amount.

The Siena poll results vindicate Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, who has favored a circuit breaker from the start. Perhaps now more of his colleagues in the Legislature, and Mr. Paterson, will listen to him.

Before the poll results were in, Mr. Silver was criticized for hewing the line of the state’s powerful teacher unions, which oppose a tax cap on the grounds that such a rigid approach could imperil the quality education that all New York children are guaranteed under the state constitution. That charge was unfair. While the teacher unions have large memberships, they do not speak for the vast majority of New Yorkers. A poll, by contrast, samples a significant cross-section of the state population.

Regrettably, the Senate is signaling that it may return to Albany sometime this summer to vote on a tax cap. Meanwhile, Mr. Paterson and Tom Suozzi, the Nassau County executive who headed the Property Tax Commission established by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, are warning that a tax cap must be in place to control spending before any circuit breaker can be put in place.

Yes, some kind of restraint is needed, but not a cap. A better way would be to reduce circuit breaker relief in those districts that approve budgets beyond the rate of inflation. That would send a strong signal to school boards to hold the line, or face voter wrath.