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GOVERNOR SPITZER ANNOUNCES EARLY RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY & COMPETITIVENESS

Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced recommendations that will save property tax payers, on Long Island and across the state, millions of dollars by delivering local services more efficiently. The recommendations – proposed by the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness and included in the Governor’s Executive Budget – would end pay for special district commissioners and encourage town control of sanitation districts, as part of a larger package of initiatives to promote greater efficiency by local governments in delivering public services.

The Governor made the announcement at Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island, as part of his statewide “Bringing the Budget Home” Tour. The Governor is traveling the state to explain, in real terms, what this year’s Executive Budget means to New York’s local governments and communities. The Governor was joined by state, county and local lawmakers, as well as business leaders and Hofstra students.

“Inefficient delivery of government services and excessive layers of bureaucracy have long contributed to New York’s chronically high taxes,” said Governor Spitzer. “These efficiency measures demonstrate that we are serious about reigning in unfunded mandates and out of control spending. Many of these improvements were modeled on initiatives developed by local government officials, who have shown vision and energy in suggesting ways to streamline the delivery of services to their regions.”

The Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness will issue its comprehensive recommendations in April, but has started the process with early consensus resolutions. Today the Governor announced the following recommendations which impact Long Island:

• End Pay and Perks for Special District Commissioners – Like school board members and fire commissioners, special district commissioners should not receive compensation or other perks. There is great concern about these payments on Long Island, where most of these commissioner-run special districts are located, and many abuses have been reported.
• Promote Town Control of Sanitation Districts – Independent sanitation districts should be subject to town management, which will increase accountability and transparency and help reduce costs.

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi said: “New Yorkers can no longer stand paying the highest property taxes in the nation. Even as we explore the root causes and pursue efforts to responsibly cap property taxes, I commend the Governor's efforts to reform the current system where some part-time commissioners are paid and many others, including fire, school and library trustees, aren't. Recent stories about some bad apples and abuses cast doubt on the entire system and reform is necessary. I applaud the Governor for making these recommendations and taking action.”

Presiding Officer of the Nassau County Legislature Diane Yatauro said: “The commitment to examine potential government consolidation is worthwhile and necessary. If we can consolidate certain levels of government to streamline services, making government more cost effective and possibly saving tax dollars, that will be a tremendous benefit to county taxpayers.”

Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman said: “Nassau County taxpayers and I are so gratified that the Governor has taken the lead to restructure and consolidate an archaic form of government. As our studies over the last three years have shown, the Governor’s proposals will translate into less money spent and tax relief for our residents.”

Commission Chair Stan Lundine said: “I am hopeful that our early suggestions for structural improvements and mandate relief will be enacted, and they are a good start. When the Commission formally reports this spring, we will chart a course for dramatic simplification and modernization of local government structure, eliminating inefficiencies, overlaps, and duplication. We need to remove structural barriers to efficient and effective local government in order to address our statewide property tax problem.”

Lisa Tyson, Director for the Long Island Progressive Coalition said: “We applaud the Governor, Comptroller Weitzman and County Executive Tom Suozzi for their work to lower taxes by consolidating districts and ending Commissioners perks. The Long Island Progressive Coalition, along with Residents for Efficient Special Districts, is organizing a petition campaign to demonstrate the significant citizen support for consolidating districts and ending perks for commissioners.”

Laura Mallay, Executive Director of Residents for Efficient Special Districts (RESD) said: “We fully support Governor Spitzer’s proposal to reform special taxing districts in New York. Through the efforts of Governor Eliot Spitzer, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, RESD, LIPC and many others, we can achieve lower taxes and more efficiently delivered public services. I extend an invitation to all of our local Assembly people and Senators to join us in this bipartisan effort to address the property tax crisis here on Long Island.”

Long Island is unique in that it has a greater number of special districts than other areas of the state. Many of these districts overlap and dramatically increase the tax burden of residents. Nassau and Suffolk counties have a combined 340 special districts, which annually levy $271.3 million and $169.5 million, respectively, in property taxes. The average special district tax levy for other counties in the state is $7.7 million.

These recommendations are part of the Governor’s comprehensive plan to reduce the property tax burden of New York residents. Last month Governor Spitzer created the bipartisan New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief to develop a fairer property tax system, including a cap on school property taxes.

Other Local Government Efficiency Commission early recommendations adopted in the Governor's Executive Budget include:

• Local Government Efficiency Grants – An enhanced grant program focused on consolidation and major service sharing arrangements that will save taxpayer dollars. This is a redesign of the existing shared services program that includes new consolidation incentives, technical assistance, services and coordination among state agencies. An evaluation component will identify effective changes that can reduce property taxes.
• 21st Century Demonstration Projects – Support for local leaders to implement transformative changes in areas like schools consolidation, and to provide new countywide or regional service models in areas like highway plowing and maintenance, policing, and smart growth planning.
• Highway Services – A consolidation incentive will provide a 30 percent aid bonus giving transitional support (phased down over five years) to local governments that functionally consolidate highway operations countywide (including either 90 percent of roads or all of the towns within a county).
• Assessing – Increased aid will be available for areas that assess uniformly countywide using modern professional standards. Elective offices for assessors will be phased out in nearly 150 communities where they still exist (including 135 3-person “boards of assessing”) to support consolidation and professionalization of the function, and 145 duplicative village assessing units will be phased out.
• Tax Collection – Consolidated and modernized local property tax collection operations will be encouraged, including the elimination of elective positions for “Receiver of Taxes.”
• Petition Process Improvements – In several notable recent cases, citizen petitions for dissolution of or consolidate municipalities have been rejected based on technicalities. A clarified and simpler petition process for citizens wishing to dissolve villages and fire districts will ensure that citizen initiatives are not stymied by unclear and complex requirements.
• Health Insurance – Intermunicipal employee health insurance approaches will be facilitated through eased provisions for forming municipal cooperatives, requiring insurers to provide claims experience, and reevaluation of requirements for local governments with fewer than 50 employees. Weights and Measures – Changes in law will allow for a consolidated operation among multiple counties (responds to an initiative from Steuben, Schuyler and Yates Counties).
• Multi-County Health Districts – Allow multiple counties to employ a single public health director that would report to a single board of health (an initiative between Genesee and Orleans Counties).
• Procurement Reform – Increases thresholds for local government competitive bidding requirements and expands opportunities for municipalities to purchase off the competitively bid contracts of other governments.
• Improved Local Financial Data – Improvements in state requirements for local government financial reporting will facilitate local studies, benchmarking and comparison of costs for services such as police, fire and highway operations.
• Coordination of State and Local Highway Services – Promote greater cooperation between the state and localities, in the delivery of highway services, particularly under emergency conditions.
• Wicks Reform – The Commission supports Wicks reform, including increased thresholds, and unanimously calls on the State Legislature to pass the Wicks Reform bill.