Flat Funding for Local Governments Worries State Lawmakers

While education reform, ethics reform and yachts are dominating the conversation as this year's state budget process comes to a close, state legislators are also raising concerns about state funding for local governments approved late Monday night.

Some legislators argue that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push to keep spending low is forcing local municipalities and counties to bear much of the cost of maintaining infrastructure and other capital projects. Before voting on the budget bill, state Sen. George Latimer expressed concern that the Aid and Incentives for Municipalities, or AIM, bill had remained flat at $715 million for the fourth consecutive year.

“There’s been no discussion at all about the problems and the troubles that villages and towns and cities have been going through,” Latimer said on Tuesday. “We treat our municipal governments—our towns, our villages, our small cities—as if they’re some kind of abandoned stepchild, and the people that they serve are the same people we serve. So, to me, I was upset that we’re so cavalier about the way we treat those municipal governments.”

According to the New York State Association of Counties, county government is responsible for about 85 percent of the roads in the state, almost 50 percent of the bridges and all the water infrastructure, such as drinking water and waste water. NYSAC Executive Director Stephen Acquario said he is worried about local governments’ ability to address these needs with the funds allotted in the state budget.

“It does not appear at this time that there is a direct allocation for these units of government to address these needs, these urgent needs,” Acquario said. “We believe the local governments made their case before the state that they have an aging infrastructure and it is well beyond the means of local property taxes to address these concerns, and therefore it is now a matter of state concern to fund these projects.”

Acquario also expressed concern about the possibility of additional property tax cuts, a priority for state Senate Republicans this year.

“We’re just asking for a diminution of services and the point I made in closing [last night] is that we talk all the time about how our higher property taxes chase people out of the state, but my experience has been when I talk to people, a diminution of local services … will also drive people out [of the state],” Latimer said.

Since AIM funding is not sufficient to meet the needs of local governments, Acquario said, he expects additional money to be allotted through the Regional Economic Development Council and Cuomo’s $1.5 billion Upstate Revitalization contest.

Latimer, however, was skeptical that  such a scenario would solve local governments’ problems.

“The problems we have are systematic—they’re across the board,” he said. “Even the REDCs do not have enough money to provide for the need wherever the need has been manifest. They have enough to award grants for certain entities that compete for them, but what about the entities that don’t successfully compete and the services that are needed in those areas? And that’s the concern I have.”

Assemblyman Michael Kearns said he is unhappy with the level of funding for the state’s libraries and caregivers of people with developmental disabilities. He said about 50,000 of individuals with developmental disabilities are living with an aging caregiver.

“I think over the last couple years we’ve saved a lot of money on the backs of the disabled, and that money has not been reinvested for the disabled,” Kearns said. “Even though there’s $30 million in state funds for 35 new or expanded service opportunities, you have over 50,000 people in the state with someone who has an aging caregiver 60 or over and that’s over 4,000 people on OPWDD residential registry lists are seeking some kind of home residential opportunity.”

He also noted that $14 million is not enough to fund the state’s library system and argued libraries are necessary for residents who do not have access to a computer at home, whether to apply for jobs or use email.

State legislators and Cuomo are still aiming for an on-time budget, but some of these issues will still be pursued during the post-budget session.

“I don’t want the state to do the counties’ job or the municipalities’ job,” Latimer said. “But we can’t treat them as if they’re not a part of a family. We are all a part of a family, because when the average person talks about government, they don’t differentiate, ‘Well the village this, the town that, the county this.’ They see a problem and if they don’t see it solved and they say, ‘Government has to fix this.’”