Hillary Thanks New York City by Costing Them $260 Million

Apparently Hillary Clinton has no plans to return to New York State politics after her stint as Secretary of State. She just made a change in policy that will cost cash-strapped New York City $260 million dollars:

Thanks a lot, Hillary!

In a surprise turnaround that will cost the city $260 million in back taxes and untold millions in future lost revenue, Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department has quietly reversed a longstanding policy requiring foreign governments to pay taxes on some diplomatic residences.

It's a shocking about-face by Secretary of State Clinton -- who repeatedly spoke in favor of the city's right to collect the taxes when she was New York's junior senator.

The Big Apple, which recently won a federal court ruling requiring India and Mongolia to fork over some $46 million in back taxes, is expected to lose about $7 million a year in current tax revenues.

That number could dramatically increase in the future if property taxes rise.

Mongolia and India had appealed the 2008 order requiring them to pay, but neither had given the city its check.

Now they don't have to.

Adding insult to injury, a week before the June 23 policy change, the Hungarian government wrote the city to say it was planning to clear up its old tax debt, which totaled $32.5 million, for its East 52nd Street consulate.

"This offer is made taking into consideration the current economic crisis existing in Hungary and the City of New York," the June 16 letter said.

The check was signed and ready to be delivered, according to the letter, written to the city's Commission for the United Nations.

The Hungarians also pledged to pony up their current taxes on the July 1 due date.

But shortly after the State Department's ruling, they notified the city they wouldn't be paying a penny, a source said.

Looks like the rich New Yorkers are about to get screwed by the tax man once again, since that's the only thing city leaders can ever come up with to solve their fiscal problems.