ALBANY -- A special commission recommends that New Yorkers' property tax increases be capped at 4 percent a year.

That would be about half the rate of average school tax increases in the last few years.

A school district could exceed the limit if 55 percent of voters approve an increase.

The commission headed by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi also calls for reform of the state's STAR tax subsidy designed to lower school taxes.

The commission recommends a so-called "circuit breaker" that would give a tax break to the most hard-pressed New Yorkers. The reform would base tax bills on income, rather than on the market value of property.

New York's local property taxes are among the nation's highest.

For more on this story, read Tuesday's edition of The Citizen.