I have been saying about this and every budget put forth from Albany, the devil is in the details. The speeches given always sound good, but when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, taxes are always raised in this state. Whether through fees, tolls, unfunded mandates, it’s either state taxes or forcing the local governments to do it.
N.Y.: Spitzer Budget Would Raise Taxes
ALBANY, N.Y. — County executives blasted Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposed budget on Tuesday, saying it would actually force higher local property taxes by shifting $80 million of state costs to counties.
But Spitzer shot back that his budget adds $500 million in funding to counties. A Spitzer aide said that should be enough for county executives to protect their already overtaxed residents.
“County executives who are threatening to raise taxes will be doing so because of their own choices, not because of the New York state budget,” said Spitzer spokesman Errol Cockfield. “They are threatening tax increases at a time when the public is feeling squeezed, despite increased state aid that makes doing so unnecessary … So it strains belief for any county executive to say that they might be forced to raise taxes because of this budget.”
The county officials at the New York State Association of Counties annual meeting, however, said Spitzer’s budget will transfer the full cost of jailing juvenile delinquents and some social service spending.
Republican Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino said that if Spitzer’s $124 billion budget is enacted without change, her county’s taxpayers would face an 8.5 percent property tax increase.
“We have nowhere else to go but property taxes,” said Jimino, a close ally of state Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.
“It’s a net loss for us,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a Democrat. Levy also said there were some positive aspects to the budget, including Spitzer’s effort to reduce the number of small taxing jurisdictions.
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