ALBANY Mayors’ group unveils cyber project Aim is to avoid aid cuts, more mandates BY JILL BRYCE Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Jill Bryce at 432-4391 or jbryce@dailygazette.net.
Move over Joe the Plumber, meet Joe the Taxpayer. Joe will be featured on a new Web site, www.StopTheTaxShift. org. The New York State Conference of Mayors, in Albany to formulate legislative priorities for 2009, announced the new cyber project on Monday in hopes of persuading Gov. David Paterson not to cut state aid to municipalities. The messages on the Web site that governors delivered on Monday was that reducing state aid to cities and towns will lead to an increase in property taxes. “I think it easily and very practically explains what the impact of lost state aid is on local government,” said Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton, who was in Albany with dozens of other mayors from around the state. Cohoes Mayor John McDonald, president of the group, said the Web site is a resource for government, state officials and staff, but most important for the average taxpayer. “New York state truly is in a fi - nancial crisis and the main issue mayors across the state face is property taxes,” said McDonald. “Will our leaders repeat the near fatal mistakes of the early 1990s, when local aid was slashed and from which many communities have never fully recovered? Or will the governor and state legislators take the right approach and protect municipal property taxpayers from the devastating effects of cut in [Aid and Incentives to Municipalities] funding? StopTheTaxShift. org makes the choice very clear.” The Web site shows the correlation between New York’s existing municipal aid program and municipal property taxes. This is critical to control property tax growth, said Peter A. Baynes, the executive director of the state mayors’ group. “If the property tax is really ‘public enemy number one” in New York then this is no time for our state leaders to reduce their commitment to the one property tax relief program that works,” said Baynes. When state aid is cut, property taxes increase, said McDonald, who also said decades of state mandates that towns, cities and villages are required to pay need to come to an end or be reconsidered. He said many of these mandates serve no public purpose yet allow the state to dictate local policy without having to be accountable for the local tax impact. “If the state wants the mandates they should pay the bills,” he said. To put the ‘tax shift” into perspective, the Web site has a blog by Joe Taxpayer, who discusses how possible cuts in aid will affect a property taxpayer. Stratton and Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings agreed there’s very little wiggle room in their 2009 city budgets. “Any further cuts in state aid will have a severe impact on us and will only leave us with the option of raising taxes or cutting services,” said Stratton. Anticipated state aid for Schenectady is $11.8 million for 2009, but Stratton said he was advised by the state budget office that could be cut in half. Jennings said that 64 percent of the property in Albany is tax exempt. “There is no rhyme or reason. There must be a review of how state aid distributed,” he said. He said that municipalities and average property owners can’t be the solution to the state’s financial problems. The Web site will analyze the impact state mandates have on local government and will feature a “Mandate of the Week.” Individuals can also get involved by clicking on the “Take Action” button at the top of the home page and send a message to statewide elected officials.
Logged
