Shared Services Initiative

County-Wide Shared Services Initiative

Reducing Property Taxes and Lowering Costs of Local Government

Governor Cuomo's new initiative to reduce property taxes requires counties to assemble local governments to find efficiencies for real, recurring taxpayer savings.

The County-Wide Shared Services Initiative, included in the enacted FY 2018 Budget, requires county officials to develop localized plans that find property tax savings by coordinating and eliminating duplicative services and propose coordinated services to enhance purchasing power.

The property tax is the largest tax burden to the New York taxpayer, with the typical taxpayer paying 2.5 times more in property taxes than in income taxes. While Governor Cuomo has made reducing this burden a central priority of his administration, the tax is still a significant expense for property owners. The goal of this new initiative is to save taxpayers money by identifying collaborative opportunities for shared services between as many local governments as possible.

.

How It Works

The Chief Executive Official of each county, excluding NYC, will:

Establish a Shared Services Panel

The panel will include the mayor of each city or village and the supervisor of each town. A representative of a school district, board of cooperative education services, and/or special improvement district may be also invited to participate.

Develop a Property Tax Savings Plan

The panel will develop a County-Wide Shared Service Property Tax Savings Plan to identify, propose and implement new actions to save taxpayers money through shared, coordinated and more efficient services between local governments within the county.

Have Opportunity for State Match Funding

Plans that create actual and demonstrable savings across multiple jurisdictions may be eligible for a one-time match of the net savings resulting from new actions implemented pursuant to the Plan.

County-Wide Shared Services Development Plan