As some political observers express surprise at Gov. Andrew Cuomo”™s ability to push reform after reform through the state government apparatus, municipal leaders have a different sentiment: frustration over the lack of mandate relief.
Following the establishment of a 2 percent cap on tax-levy increases, local government officials say they are under tremendous pressure to rein in spending for vital public services due to the rising burden of Medicaid and pension contributions that the state imposes on municipalities each year.
“The 2 percent tax cap ”“ as wonderful as it sounds to the community ”“ puts the town in a straightjacket,” said Bedford Town Supervisor Lee Roberts.
Roberts said the town would have been able to decrease taxes if not for the annual increases in pension contributions. Without the mandate relief the state Legislature promised but did not deliver, she said, Bedford was forced to override the cap on Sept. 20, becoming one of the first towns in the Hudson Valley to do so.
“The tax cap was enacted without mandate relief. It was billed as a two-part effort and only one part got enacted,” Roberts said.
And if there is no action taken during the upcoming legislative session?
“I see municipal bankruptcies on the horizon,” Roberts said. “It”™s a mess ”“ we need to address our infrastructure. We need to pave our roads, fix our pipes, fix our buildings; we can”™t delay these things forever without risking a much larger expenditure down the road.”
At least eight other municipalities in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties are considering an override of the cap or have already done so, according to published reports.
State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, and Assemblyman Robert Castelli, R, C-Goldens Bridge, both said they understand the difficult choices facing municipalities and they will fight to have mandate relief prioritized in the state”™s 2012 budget plans.
“We can”™t sustain our quality of life without giving the municipalities, cities, counties and school districts some kind of mandate relief,” Paulin said.
In October, Paulin sponsored a bill that would transfer full responsibility for funding the $44 billion Medicaid program to the state by gradually eliminating the local share traditionally paid by county governments and reflected in property taxes, but she told the Business Journal Cuomo had indicated he would not support it.
In 2012, Westchester”™s Medicaid and pension contributions alone are projected to increase by $4.5 million and $9 million, respectively, based on automatic cost escalators not controlled by the county.
Castelli, who is listed as a co-sponsor on Paulin”™s proposal, said Medicaid reforms should be a top priority.
“There is so much fraud, waste and abuse in the system that we routinely build $100 million (into the revenue side of the budget) in anticipated fraud recovery each year,” he said of the state”™s Medicaid program. “Can we make the system more efficient? Absolutely. Should the state bear the burden? Yes.”
