County legislators last week unanimously approved two measures to address housing affordability, including one that makes Ulster the first county in New York to make use of a new state law on property taxes.

One of the property tax measures, Resolution 448, authorizes the county to pass Local Law 10 and opt in to a new state law (co-authored by state Sen. Michelle Hinchey) that provides a 50 percent cut to the property tax bills of low-income homeowners who purchased their homes with resale restrictions from nonprofit housing organizations, community land trusts, land banks and governmental entities. Here in Ulster that includes Habitat for Humanity, RUPCO and the Kingston City Land Bank.

Those restrictions are intended to preserve the houses' affordability, preventing their resale at market value. But the catch for current owners is that their homes are assessed at full market value. Resolution 448's intent, per a legislative press release, is “to help better align the cost burden with the affordability restrictions placed on the property.”

“Ulster County has now created a path that our towns, municipalities and school districts can build on,” said Local Law 10 author Legislator Lindsey Grossman (D-Marbletown, Rosendale). “If more taxing jurisdictions opt in, the savings for eligible homeowners could become much more meaningful – helping families stay in their homes, build financial stability and preserve these homes as affordable for the next generation.”

The legislature that same session also passed Resolution No. 449, adopting Local Law 11, which creates a 50 percent cut to property tax bills of surviving spouses of police officers killed in the line of duty.

"Our police officers and their families make tremendous sacrifices in service to our communities, and when an officer makes the ultimate sacrifice, that loss is carried by their family for the rest of their lives," said resolution sponsor and Deputy Minority Leader Craig Lopez (R-Shawangunk, Wawarsing). "This isn't going to erase the loss these families have experienced, but it is something tangible that we can do.”

That the property tax relief measures passed at the same session that saw the body institute a six-month hiring freeze might cause one to question the logic. One might think that while the freeze cuts back on expenses the exemptions cut back on revenue.

But the exemptions do not, in fact, cost the county a dime.

That's because Ulster County, like many other municipalities, practices tax base shifting. Exemptions remove property value from the taxable total. But budgets are fixed by spending needs, so a smaller tax base naturally causes the tax rate to rise slightly for everyone else.

So what we have here is an instance of what is normally anathema to political conservatives: wealth redistribution by the state, a/k/a “From each according to their abilities; to each according to their need.”

Since Democrats are regularly accused of being closet communists, Kingston Wire felt no need to ask them about any contradictions. GOP legislators, on the other hand, seemed fair game. Here's what two of them said.

“These are targeted exemptions for people with disabilities and lower-income families trying to achieve and maintain homeownership,” said Legislator Jason Kovacs (R-Town of Kingston, Town of Ulster, Town of Saugerties): “In the case of programs like Habitat for Humanity, we're helping people become homeowners, build equity, and become more financially independent. Those are goals conservatives ought to support.”

If you are talking about the two we passed last week, both are irrelevant in terms of budgeting,” said Minority Leader Kevin Roberts (Plattekill). “There are 25 houses that currently qualify, mostly in Kingston.”

Reminded of the wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson – “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” – Roberts quipped “Emerson is okay in my book."