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Monday, 07 June 2010 14:21 |
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Although there is still no resolution on the State Budget, which is now more than two months late,state operations continue through the passage of emergency budget extender bills. This practice has many implications for local governments, as it hinders municipal officials’ ability to budget and plan because not only is the receipt of aid payments frequently delayed, the total amount of state aid remains uncertain until a state budget is finally adopted. This is particularly problematic for the state’s largest cities who must finalize their own municipal budgets before the end of June without knowing what level of funding they will receive from the state.
In the meantime, however, the State Legislature continues to consider other legislative iniatives including the recently enacted early retirement incentive bill. This law applies to state and local employees under the New York State and Local Employee Retirement System, the New York City Retirement Systems and the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System. Employees in the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System are not eligible. The two incentives contained in the bill -- an additional service credit incentive under Part A and a 55/25 retirement option under Part B -- are optional for local government and school district employers. The hope is that these retirement incentives will help achieve cost savings and avoid public employee layoffs until the state’s fiscal picture improves. |
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State Budget Negotiations Continue..... |
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Monday, 05 April 2010 13:23 |
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Facing a deficit of approximately $9 billion in the state fiscal year that began on April 1, the Governor and the State Legislature continue to work toward adopting a state budget. While there still are a number of outstanding issues, both the Senate and Assembly have indicated their preliminary positions on many items of importance to cities and villages. Unfortunately, at this time, neither house seems inclined to restore the proposed cuts in state aid to New York’s municipalities, or to expand local revenue options initiatives such as: increasing the maximum authorized rate for the local gross receipts tax; permitting municipalities to charge for accident reports at levels authorized for the State Police beyond the current $0.25 per page allowed under FOIL; authorizing municipalities to impose fees for ambulance and emergency medical services provided by fire departments; and permitting municipalities to charge for the provision of additional police protection at paid-admission events. While the final outcome on these and other proposals remains uncertain, one thing is for sure, now is not the time to shift the state’s problems onto local taxpayers. |
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Governor Paterson Delivers State of the State Address |
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Friday, 08 January 2010 15:35 |
On Wednesday, January 6, Governor Paterson delivered his second State of the State address. Although the details of the Governor’s plan remain to be seen, the two most prominent themes were reform and rebuilding. Specifically, the Governor focused on ethics reform to bring fairness and openness to state government including the creation of an independent state ethics commission – and fiscal reform that would include a cap on the growth in state spending and the implementation of EmpireStat, a new program to track the progress of state agencies and to help make state government more accountable. These reforms, under the Governor’s plan, would dovetail with plans to grow the state’s economy. Such plans include a new Excelsior Jobs program to replace the struggling Empire Zones program, a Sustainable Neighborhoods Project to address the vacant housing stock in upstate New York, and movement toward a clean energy economy and a rebuilt manufacturing base.
While there was little talk of New York’s local governments, the Governor did allude to the need for relief from both the growing property tax burden and state mandates which hinder municipal efforts to operate efficiently. Aside from the spending cap proposal, the speech was light on details in this regard but it is expected that the release of the Executive Budget later this month will help municipal officials better understand whether and to what extent the State will do what is necessary to assist its local government partners in revitalizing New York’s economy.
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Friday, 20 November 2009 11:06 |
The State Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, a bill containing several mandate relief initiatives that will generate savings at the local level and reduce the burden on New York’s taxpayers.
The most significant provisions will finally allow local governments to be treated the same as private defendants when determining the impact of collateral source payments in tort claims for personal injury. Specifically, the new law puts an end to the “windfall of double recoveries” to plaintiffs by allowing public employers to offset injury awards with payments from collateral sources, such as insurance.
In addition, the new law (Chapter 494 of the Laws of 2009):
- Increases the local competitive bidding threshold on public works contracts from $20,000 to $35,000. (Note: the threshold for purchase contracts remains at $10,000);
- Reduces the number of municipal entities, from 5 to 3, required to form cooperative health benefit plans, and requires insurers to provide claims data to municipal corporations;
- Facilitates highway shared services agreements among municipalities and between municipalities and State agencies by eliminating certain restrictions regarding the types of services that may be shared as well as the term of such contracts; and
- Authorizes the NYS Municipal Bond Bank Agency (MBBA) to purchase bonds issued by municipalities to provide for public improvements afforded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, thereby reducing local borrowing costs.
Enactment of this law is clearly a positive first step toward providing local governments with the flexibility they need to better control costs and operate more efficiently.
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