The lack of mandate relief from Albany has left Westchester business, government and school officials mad as hell, and they are not going to take it anymore.
STOP Albany, an alliance composed of elected officials, school board trustees, PTA members and business advocates, kicked off its campaign May 23 at 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains to pressure Albany for mandate relief. The group is encouraging residents to rally the state by visiting STOPAlbany.com. The group also launched Twitter, Facebook and Youtube pages to highlight its cause.
“We stand united,” County Executive Robert Astorino said. “Albany is broken. There is no accountability. They pass on costs to the taxpayers.”
According to Astorino, 85 percent of the county tax levy goes toward nine unfunded mandates totaling $464 million, while the county receives $249 million in state aid. The county spends $225 million on Medicaid costs.
Astorino complained about pension costs rising out of control. In 2001, pension costs totaled $3.3 million. This year, pension costs total $91 million, a 3,000 percent increase over the last 12 years.
“That is not sustainable,” Astorino said. “Albany must be held accountable. They must address the problem. If Albany wants to implement programs, they can pay for it. Stop taking our power.”
While Astorino and others lauded the state for passing a 2 percent tax cap on the tax levy, they thought mandate relief would come with it.
“There”™s been no movement with the Legislature,” Astorino said. “It”™s a crushing burden.”
Municipalities have been feeling the pinch of trying to keep budgets within the tax cap while maintaining essential services. Ossining Mayor William Hanauer, president of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association, said contributions to the police pension fund have increased 72 percent over the last three years and the employee pension system has increased 55 percent over the last three years.
Ossining has eliminated 16.5 positions to stay under the cap. The town of North Salem has eliminated 19 percent of its workforce and 20 percent of its police while New Rochelle has laid off 40 police officers and 20 firefighters. Municipalities throughout Westchester have been laying off employees or not filling positions.
“The cap was meant to help municipalities be cost effective,” Hanauer said. “It”™s only made things more difficult.”
Struggling municipalities have also dealt with tax certioraris as homeowners look to lower their assessment and reduce their property tax burden. Ossining has had to bond $1.4 million and its assessed value has decreased by $2.12 million.
“We have been lobbying for relief,” Hanauer said.
William Mooney Jr., president of the Westchester County Association has been a staunch advocate for mandate relief. He said the lack of mandate relief will stunt business growth.
“We are facing sharp cuts in services, let alone a decline in our educational system,” Mooney said. “The reason businesses and residents come to Westchester is because of those high-quality services.”
For school districts to override the tax cap in their respective budgets, 60 percent of voters must approve. Districts have increased class sizes and cut programs such as art and music to get budgets under the cap.
“These are big problems and there”™s nothing we can do,” Harrison schools Superintendent Louis Wool said. “Children”™s lives are at risk. They have shifted the burden to the taxpayers. I can”™t fix that.”
Astorino said more state aid from Albany was not the answer. Last year, he went to Albany with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to advocate for mandate relief.
“It was one of the most wasted days of my life,” Astorino said. “Albany is not going to change unless people speak up. Whenever Albany says they are going to help you, the opposite occurs. We are a branch of the state. When does a child subsidize a parent?”
Mooney said if a company like PepsiCo Inc. had a problem with a product, the answer wouldn”™t be to dilute the product, but they would make wholesale changes to improve it. Like Astorino, he said people need to keep pushing Albany to make improvements.
“I think the Legislature can be reasonable,” Mooney said. “Legislators respond to collaborative actions. What succeeds is collaboration.”
