Hochul, Gillibrand warn NY communities will increase property taxes if Trump cuts Department of Education

New York Gov.Kathy Hochul and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand warned that the possible Department of Education eradication President Trump has alluded to will cause property taxes to spike across the state.The Democratic duo gathered for a press meeting on the state of public education on Sunday morning days after Democratic members of Congress were denied access into the Department of Education building.

The pair expressed concern over reports that Trump is considering gutting the department through an executive order and then pushing for legislation to abolish it altogether.As many try to wrap their heads around what exactly the elimination of the DOE could look like, Hochul noted the ripple effect it could have on New Yorkers’ taxes since states will need to find cash to make up for the loss of federal school funding.“This is $5.5 billion that the State receives annually from the Department of Education — $3.2 billion goes directly into our budget, $2.3 billion goes to localities.If that money is jeopardized, what I can tell you will happen, localities lose that money, they will have to raise taxes,” Hochul said.“For outside the city, your largest part of your local property tax bill is your school taxes.

If that money evaporates from the federal government, where are they going to go?” the governor added.“This is going to hit homeowners and businesses, and I want them to be aware of this consequence.”Trump has been hinting at his desire to shut down or cut back the DOE since his first term as part of his efforts to shrink the size of the federal government.

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Never miss a story.On the campaign trail, Trump told the crowd at a September rally in Wisconsin that he was “dying” to get back into office to “eliminate the federal Dep...