(10/12/2012) New York’s counties are making a push to get Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers to take their growing fiscal crises seriously. They say they need relief from some state mandates that they say are bringing some counties to the brink of…
(10/03/2012) Top New York officials say it’s going to be another difficult year for the state budget. Governor Cuomo has already told state agencies to keep spending flat, and those that depend on state programs are not counting on big increases….
Albany, NY, Oct 10, 2012 — The North Country is seeing some tough times in county government, with Essex County facing a $13 million shortfall, and St. Lawrence County projecting a 20 percent property tax increase.
New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen Acquario says counties are caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, counties have to pay for dozens of mandated services, from Medicaid to child welfare, which cost more every year. On the other hand, they now have to keep tax increases within a property tax cap.
Acquario told David Sommerstein the situation leaves counties essentially “governing by triage”.
I think the last thing the state needs to do is run around the state saying how great of a job they’ve done to cap property tax. That’s not the answer.
Local government, in this particular instance, the county governments, have been forced to make some pretty, fairly drastic cutbacks in local services. What are they? Nursing homes, certainly in the North Country that’s happening, Washington County, Essex County and some others are looking at this certified home health agency.
So what’s causing the pressure right now, what the listeners are seeing unfold in front of them is a sign of the times. Largely flat revenue…meaning the sales tax that we use to operate the government, and the other piece of the revenue is property tax.
And the governor has told the people of New York the property taxes are too high, that we should cap them. The counties are struggling mightily to try to keep those taxes down, but are having a very hard time of this, because of the amount of money that has to go to Albany to pay for state expenditures delivered locally.
Some county lawmakers are saying we have to cut things like roads and bridges, and sheriff road patrols were suggested, help for the elderly, offices for the aging. A county legislator in St. Lawrence County, Fred Morrill, said ‘yes these are essential things, but they’re not mandated.’
The vast majority of these mandates that the counties are tied up with, the largest of these being Medicaid, are unfunded mandates or underfunded mandates. So what does that mean? That means that the county government has to apply all of its sales tax. The county government has to apply all of its property tax, just about 80 percent of those types of revenues.
Maybe not all of them, but the vast majority of those two revenue sources go to pay for these nine state-mandated programs and services. And that’s putting the pressure on the local services.
What do you think that the state, which also doesn’t have money to spend, should do to ameliorate the situation for the counties?
I think the last thing the state needs to do is run around the state saying how great of a job they’ve done to cap property tax. That’s not the answer. That’s a step in the right direction, our property taxes are too high. An individual is going to have a hard time paying an additional $165 a year in high property taxes. And I think that capping the revenue is hardly an answer.
To what extent are counties responsible for taking sort of political advantage of saying we only raise property taxes by so much in the better years, and not paying enough attention to sort of making sure they had enough of a fund balance in these lean years that we are in now?
I think that the counties, over time, have been reluctant to raise property taxes, because they’re high in the first instance, that our economy has been such that many people are out of work, that these legislators are citizens too.
They do not like to raise property taxes, for additional programs. They are being forced to raise property taxes to pay for programs that are mandated by the State, and less [for] local services. The situation at the local level has become unmanageable.
Steven Acquario directs the New York State Association of Counties. NYSAC has released a list of dozens of mandated services the State should pay more for.
New York’s counties are making a push to get Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers to take their growing fiscal crisis seriously, and let them off the hook for some state mandates that they say are bringing some counties to the brink of bankruptcy. Steve Acquario, with the New York Association of Counties, says his lobby and advocacy group has already begun researching laws governing municipal bankruptcies, in case struggling counties in New York have need of guidance. But he says he hopes it would be a last resort. “Yes we can declare bankruptcy.” Acquario said. “But it’s a drastic measure, what is that telling the people of New York? That we can’t run our government? It’s a terrible situation.” Counties say they are squeezed between the recently enacted 2% property tax cap and state rules that they say they’re running out of money to fund. Acquario says the data shows a “very serious” widening gap between the money that counties take in in revenue, largely from property taxes, and the cost of state mandated programs. That difference will reach $4.2 billion dollars annually by the end of the decade. “ We call it a jaws chart,” he said. One county, Cortland County in Central New York, is almost at its constitutional taxing limit, several counties are under a state run financial control board, and others are spending down their reserves at an alarming rate.
Acquario says the largest mandate that accounts for much of the counties’ budgets is the requirement that counties pay for 25% of the state’s $54 billion dollars in annual Medicaid costs. The federal government pays just over half, and the state pays for the other quarter, but Acquario says federal and state government have greater resources to come up with the money, like an income tax and other taxes and fees. He says counties have to rely on just the property tax and a “narrow band” of taxpayers to fund a vast health care program. He says it’s “absurd” and no longer sustainable. Governor Cuomo and the legislature have already taken over all county Medicaid expenses that rise above 3% each year, but have not agreed to take over all of the $7.5 billion dollars in costs to counties and New York City. Acquario suggests that perhaps a take over could be done in phases, with the state paying for long term care costs first. He says nearly $3 billion dollars in savings expected from the federal Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare, could help pay for the partial takeover. The counties also believe a waiver request sought by the Governor’s Medicaid Redesign Team from the federal government could also bring in more funds. And they urge Cuomo’s Medicaid overhaul panel to look at reducing some benefits, as well, to more closely match what’s offered in the private sector. The counties would also like to get out of an obligation to pay for almost half of the costs of pre school education for disabled children. Acquario says school districts should pay those costs instead. He says if schools were responsible for the expenses, they might find ways to save money in the program. Acquario has an answer for people whose eyes glaze over when they hear the term mandate relief. “Look at their tax bill,” he said. “If they’re flat, they’re fortunate.” Without help from the state, he expects 20% of all counties to exceed the tax cap in the budgets they are now putting together. If 60% of a county’s legislators agree to raise taxes beyond the 2% limit, then the property tax cap can be overridden. County leaders are also taking other steps to reduce costs, like privatizing the running of nursing homes, or selling them outright. They are also laying off workers. Governor Cuomo appointed a task force to try to provide some relief from mandates. It was due to issue a report last June, but missed that deadline and has not set a new date to report.
October 11, 2012 By Karen DeWitt: NYS Public Radio/WXXI
New York’s counties are making a push to get Governor Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers to let them off the hook for some mandates that they say are bringing some to the brink of bankruptcy.
Steve Acquario, with the New York Association of counties, said his lobby and advocacy group has already begun researching laws governing municipal bankruptcies, in case struggling counties in New York have need of guidance.
“Yes, we can declare bankruptcy,” Acquario said. “But it’s a drastic measure, what is that telling the people of New York? That we can’t run our government? It’s a terrible situation.”
The gap between what counties take in from property taxes and what they pay for state-mandated programs will reach $4.2 billion annually by the end of the decade, he said.
Acquario said the largest mandate that accounts for 25 percent of the state’s $54 billion in annual Medicaid costs.
Cuomo and the legislature have already taken over all county Medicaid expenses that rise above 3 percent each year, but have not agreed to take over all of the $7.5 billion in costs to counties and New York City.
Counties say they are also squeezed between the recently enacted 2 percent property tax cap and state rules.
In Cortland County, located in Central New York, taxation is almost at its constitutional limit. Several others are under a state-run financial control board. And still others are spending down their reserves at an alarming rate.
Cuomo appointed a task force to try to provide some relief from mandates. It was due to issue a report last June, but missed that deadline and has not set a new date to report.
Oct 8, 2012 | Written by Jessica Bakeman Albany bureau
Assembly minority leader Brian Kolb speaks as BEST4NY founder Jim McCauley looks on Tuesday night at Fox Lane Middle School Photo Credit: Liz Button
BEDFORD, N.Y. — Westchester citizen advocacy group BEST4NY aims to mobilize local governments and their constituents to pressure Albany on the issue of unfunded state mandate relief, and it brought the fight to the Fox Lane campus Tuesday.
According to the group, while counties, towns, cities, villages and school districts are already facing tough budgetary pressures due to the state’s 2 percent property tax levy cap, unfunded mandates passed down from the state increase costs for local governments, forcing them to cut essential local services and inflate property taxes.
New York State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R,C,I – Canandaigua) said the lack of progress on mandate relief is not for a lack of solutions, such as two task forces assembled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and bills like the Taxpayer Relief Act. The stumbling block is legislators in Albany who do not have the political courage to fight for the legislation, he said.
“We’re still a long ways away from significant cost relief,” he said. The key to real change is getting the message out so taxpayers understand that this issue affects their pocketbooks, Kolb said.
While Albany insists that the tax cap and Tier 6 pension reform have saved money, BEST4NY, which stands for “Better Education and Smarter Taxation 4 New York,” posits that these do not result in relief for municipalities in the short term, which is needed.
State government is camouflaging its excessive spending by passing down mandates to counties, schools and towns, a move that ultimately hurts the taxpayers in these localities, said George Oros, chief of staff for Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
“In Westchester, 82 cents of every dollar we collect in property tax goes to mandates in Albany,” he said.
Peekskill Mayor Mary Foster and Lisa Davis, executive director of Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association, also spoke at Tuesday’s public forum.
On the school level, Davis said, everyone wants to keep budget cuts as far away from the classroom as possible, but there has already been talk in some districts of dismantling pre-K, eliminating kindergarten and reducing funds for literacy programs.
“The end is not here because in 2012 we continue to see mandates being put on our school districts. And every mandate is well-served, it’s well intentioned, but they cost money,” she said.
Davis pointed to recent state mandates like the Dignity For All Act, the newly required cyberbullying policy that puts the burden of responsibility on the schools even if the incident happens remotely, and the largest unfunded mandate for schools: annual professional performance reviews (APPRs).
- Brian Kolb & Bill Samuels…Counties map out Mandate Relief…Mark Ladov of the Brennan Center….CFR Download
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Counties want mandate relief. Know what they are? Watch Now
10/02/2012 09:23 PM By: Erin Vannella
“Doing less with less” was part of the message for local and state leaders at a forum at the Rockefeller Institute of Government Public Policy in Albany. The topic of discussion? Unfunded mandates and how they affect local governments.
ALBANY, N.Y. — “With the increase cost in state mandates exceeding the amount that we can raise in property taxes with the two percent tax, we’re having to cut local services,” said Rensselaer County Executive Republican Kathy Jimino.
Enough is enough say New York’s county leaders. They say unfunded state mandates are crippling local economies by requiring services that the government is not providing money to help pay for.
“We have had layoffs in each of the last three years and we’ve had program cuts,” said Jimino. “Last year, we had proposed some pretty draconian cuts in terms of senior services and in terms of veterans services.”
It’s a statewide problem that leaders on the local and state level discussed in open forum in Albany Tuesday. Cuomo’s cap on Medicaid costs and pension system reforms, many said, aren’t enough.
“I think what we’re looking for is to be more efficient and more flexible when it comes to rules and regulations and requirements that we put on local government and school districts,” said 43rd Senate District Republican Betty Little.
“I feel like our decision-making ability has been almost taken away from us and all we’re doing is implementing someone else’s priorities using local resources,” said New York State School Board Association Executive Director Timothy Kremer.
But while talking about it may bring some peace of mind, local leaders demand movement with everything from education to pension plans hanging in the balance.
“We need them to understand why it is that we continue to ask for relief from these mandates from the state and that we are at the same time finding those economies of scale at the local level trimming those costs, holding the line where we can,” said Jimino. “We recognize that the bottom line is our taxpayers cannot afford to pay more particularly when the economy remains rather bleak.”
Upstate cities said they face bankruptcy without state help. Cities have lost population and manufacturing jobs, leading to an erosion of their tax base.
Megna said the state, despite its own fiscal woes and spending cuts, has been able to keep aid flat to cities. He said the Democratic governor is looking at ways to help cities.
“I think it’s premature to talk about any specifics,” Megna said.
Kremer said the state needs to reform the Triborough Amendment, the oft-criticized law that allows union contracts to continue even after they expire. The law, critics say, makes it difficult to negotiate new deals with unions; unions say it offers them job protection.
“We don’t want to dismiss anybody. We don’t want anybody to lose their job,” Kremer said. “But these contracts have expired and people are getting automatic step (salary) increases every year, on average 2 percent.”
Little said a mandate-relief panel formed by the Cuomo administration this year will hopefully find more ways to curb unfunded mandates.
“We have the tax cap, and the tax cap is bringing mandate relief to the fore,” she said.
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