Though most New Yorkers will see a rate decrease, 40 percent of voters call Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tax code reshuffling a tax hike, a Quinnipiac University poll this morning found.

Twenty-eight percent of voters said the tax code adjustment was a cut, while 32 percent say they’re undecided. Meanwhile, 35 percent say their taxes will actually go up.

The confusion reflects how quickly the plan was rammed through the Legislature, said pollster Mickey Carroll.

“The speed in changing the state tax code has left a lot of New Yorkers confused. Most of the state is divided on the merits, with New York City voters more negative than not,” he said.

The plan Cuomo introduced and the Legislature quickly passed decreases taxes for nearly all income brackets, save for those making $40,000 and less. Those making $1 million and more and duel filers making $2 million and more will pay a rate of 8.82 percent, which is a smaller tax cut than then they would have been in line to receive had a surcharge been allowed to expire.

The plan itself has a 38 percent approval rating, 34 percent of voters disapproving and 28 percent undecided.

Cuomo has defended the lack of transparency in the tax code debate, arguing that the issue of the so-called millionaires tax has been debated extensively throughout the year, though a specific plan wasn’t introduced until hours before voting.

The plan makes for an added $1.9 billion in revenue.

Cuomo’s own popularity, meanwhile, remains sky-high.

The governor is the owner of a 68 approval rating and is held in high regard by Democrats, independents and Republicans, who all given him ratings above 60 percent.

And interestingly, the Queens native is most popular in the state’s suburbs, where 76 percent of voters polled back him.

Cuomo, now a Westchester County resident, has made a concerted effort in his first year to appeal to suburban voters, the cap on property taxes being his biggest economic achievement before the tax code deal.

Grading his first year in office, 10 percent of voters give Cuomo an ‘A,’ while 53 percent give him a ‘B;’ 25 percent say ‘C,’ as 6 percent say ‘D’ and 3 percent say ‘F.’

122011 NY GOV + BP

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