The more state officials say about their plans for tax relief, the more disgusted we become.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tax freeze proposal initially held some promise. Of course, that promise faded as more information about the plan was released.

The 2014 tax rebate would have taxpayers pay their already high property tax bill up front and wait months for a rebate check – a rebate check that will require a costly state bureaucracy to create. It doesn’t appear a taxpayer would receive a rebate if their taxing entity keeps taxes flat or cuts taxes – a fact that actually encourages governments to spend money so their taxpayers receive a small rebate. The process would be particularly complex for taxpayers who live in multiple taxing jurisdictions and no one seems to have an answer for what happens if a taxpayer’s municipality complies and their school district does not. Cuomo’s proposal also doesn’t appear to apply to most small businesses, and, at least thus far, contains no further mandate relief.

The 2015 tax freeze related to shared services or consolidation is even more confusing. Cooperation that is already happening doesn’t count and the program comes with a target of 3 percent of budgets being saved – a number New York State Association of Counties officials think is unrealistic. Governments like Chautauqua County or Jamestown that have sought shared services or consolidations for years would be penalized.

Equally undesirable, however, is a plan espoused by Democrats in the state Assembly that would create an enhanced property tax circuit breaker at a cost of $1.1 billion. The Assembly’s plan ties property taxes to household income much like the Enhanced STAR program available for senior citizens. It will make tax bills go down, but includes none of the structural reforms needed to make local taxing jurisdictions more efficient and less costly. Taxpayers deserve tax relief, but simply spending the state’s surplus without structural reforms that make tax relief sustainable, year after year, simply papers over the reasons for New York’s high taxes.

A property tax circuit breaker is palatable only if it is coupled with a real plan to reduce state mandates and encourage much-needed local reforms. Thus far, that option hasn’t been placed on the table for discussion. Instead, legislators have two equally poor avenues as they enter the final stretch of budget deliberations – Cuomo’s election-year gimmick or the Assembly’s feel-good plan that doesn’t take a single step toward solving New York’s long-term problems.

Helping people pay their high taxes doesn’t solve the state’s tax problem. They merely make an election year easier for politicians.

We deserve better.