"In this era of rising property taxes, I cannot impose yet another unfunded mandate on these small localities, without evidence that their failure to hire a full-time chief is harming the safety of local residents, or negatively impacting some other important public interest."

— Governor David A. Paterson
Veto No. 5 of 2008

"Albany should do its share and provide us with three key ingredients - mandate relief, authorizations for new sources of revenue and, once again, stable and consistent state aid."

— Byron Brown, Mayor
City of Buffalo

"Costly mandates imposed on school districts by the state are one of the key factors leading to high local property taxes. We strongly support efforts to require full funding of these mandates."

— Timothy G. Kremer, Executive Director
New York State School Boards Association

"New York Farm Bureau believes that, as many others have suggested, in order for the Real Property Tax Commission to truly address property taxes in New York from a long-term perspective, the state needs to control unfunded mandates."

— John Lincoln, President
New York Farm Bureau

"The leaders of our cities and villages urge the Governor and members of the State Legislature to not make the mistake that was made in the early 1990s, when the state balanced its budget by decimating the revenue sharing program. Those cuts continue to plague municipal budgets and local taxpayers, as nearly 80% of our cities and 100% of our villages receive less aid today than they did twenty years ago, when adjusted for inflation."

— Peter A. Baynes, Executive Director
New York State Conference of Mayors

"The current situation is not insurmountable. We can fundamentally restructure our state mandate program in a way that reduces costs and improves core public programs and services."

— Stephen J. Acquario, Executive Director
New York State Association of Counties

"While New York State's fiscal needs must be addressed, shifting these expenses to local property taxpayers will not solve the State's fiscal crisis or bolster New York's economy. All New Yorkers are impacted by escalating property taxes and local government fees whether through ownership or renting or loss of jobs. Decreasing state revenue sharing and local aid programs will result in program cuts, deferred infrastructure maintenance and/or higher property taxes and fees."

— G. Jeffrey Haber, Executive Director
New York State Association of Towns