New York is facing some harsh realities — out-of-control spending, fleeing tax base, and a toxic business climate. The only way to fix it is to pass a budget that reflects the needs of the woefully-neglected taxpayers. There is no silver bullet. This isn’t an issue created in Washington D.C. Simply stated, our constituents expect us to craft a budget rooted in improving the quality of their lives. After all, that’s why they have chosen to send us to Albany year after year.

 Now that both the state Assembly and Senate have produced their own, individual spending plans, it is time to officially start hammering out the details of the 2018-19 budget. New York has been headed in the wrong direction for years, and each budget we negotiate is a new opportunity to stop, reverse course, and start making New York tax dollars work, again — for the people forced to pony up each paycheck.

Our top priority must be to make New York affordable

 Here is the brutal reality facing our taxpayers: New York has the nation’s worst local and state tax burden, 47th worst property taxes, 49th worst economic climate, and 2nd highest debt burden. That our great state, with all its resources, natural beauty, and its place as the financial and cultural capital of the world could be falling so woefully short for this long, is beyond my comprehension.

Fixing these long-standing problems falls at the feet of the state legislature and governor. Perhaps one of the reasons New York trails the rest of the country in economic areas is because the budget process has been compromised by political posturing and issues that have absolutely nothing to do with dollars and cents. Voting changes, bail reform, and even a measure to require backseat passengers to wear seatbelts have made it into this year’s “budget” conversations.

The Assembly Minority Conference has continually pushed for several financially focused policy measures to correct this unfortunate reality. They include:

Reduce spending and stick to the spending cap (A.5942-A) — While everyone is willing to talk about financial hardships facing the state, no one seems willing to suggest that the state tightens its belt and reduces spending. In fact, the Assembly Majority’s plan goes over the 2-percent spending cap. We simply cannot continue to spend at this rate and not lose out to other growing states. Florida, which now has a larger population than New York, has no income tax and has half our budget. We can do better.

 Property tax/mandate relief (A.9901) — Yet again, budget proposals thus far have offered no unfunded mandate relief for localities. This is unacceptable. Our Minority Conference Medicaid Restructuring Plan would take over the county share of the program’s costs over 10 years and 50 percent of New York City’s costs over 20 years — saving taxpayers $465 million in the first year alone. Without relieving New York’s unconscionably high property taxes, we cannot effectively jump-start the rest of the economy.

Economic-development oversight — New York is wasting billions and billions of dollars every year on economic-development programs that don’t work. They don’t create jobs and there isn’t a single shred of data the governor can produce to justify his policies. The corrupt, wasteful programs not only cost taxpayers money, they waste valuable opportunities to use tax dollars for actual, meaningful investments. Our reform package would ensure this broken system is fixed.

Invest in our infrastructure — Our local roads and bridges are the arteries that feed our state’s economy. Investing in them not only ensures our economy can flourish, but also provides jobs and stimulates spending. Too often neglected, we have called for additional funding to the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program. We support the One-House Budget Resolution’s $81 million proposal over the governor’s proposed spending plan. Instead of giving hundreds of millions of dollars to Hollywood elites, let’s fix our roads.       

Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C–Canandaigua), a former small-business owner, is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 131st Assembly District, which encompasses all of Ontario County and parts of Seneca County. Contact him at kolbb@nyassembly.gov

Our property taxes are among the highest in the nation. New York state government needs to make structural changes if there is any hope for reducing tax bills for property owners. Legislation has been introduced that would help alleviate some of this burden for upstate New York residents and stimulate economic growth.

For starters, the state needs to take over the full cost of Medicaid. It is a joint federal and state program largely administered by states and is paid for with federal, state, and local funds. Medicaid provides health insurance for low-income families and individuals, including children, parents, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities. Currently, about one-third of New York residents are insured through Medicaid.

States have the flexibility to design their Medicaid programs and therefore, eligibility and benefits under Medicaid vary widely from state to state. For example, after the federal government enacted Obamacare, New York chose to expand the program to allow more low-income non-elderly people to qualify for Medicaid. Not only do states have the authority to expand benefits and those who qualify, but they also have the authority to tax county property taxpayers for this public benefit. New York is one of 18 states that requires counties to cover some of the non-federal costs associated with Medicaid. Mandated local contributions in New York are the highest in the country — $8.2 billion annually. Local property taxpayers need relief from this behemoth.

With the state takeover, the legislation requires the state to make structural changes to the program over a multi-year period that would reduce the overall cost of Medicaid without sacrificing services. Something needs to be done. In 2017-18 the cost of the program reached $72.1 billion which is unsustainable. In the 2012-13 fiscal year, taxpayers saw some relief from Medicaid when the state agreed to take over the growth of the local share of Medicaid. This was a victory for local property taxpayers; however, it is time to remove this burden from the counties altogether. 

In tandem with the Medicaid takeover, the state should also freeze property taxes at the 2018 level then assume the property tax growth of local governments or school districts that stay within the 2 percent tax cap. In addition to this takeover, the legislation specifies that the state create a real property tax redesign team. The redesign team would then be tasked with reducing mandates and finding at least $500 million in annual recurring savings. A similar team called the Medicaid redesign team — comprised of representatives of health-care workers, Medicaid recipients, and hospitals — was created in 2011 that recommended more than 70 solutions the state used to help keep Medicaid costs from spiraling further out of control. The first year alone, it saved taxpayers an estimated $2.3 billion.

The legislation, if enacted, would force the state to look at unfunded mandates, which largely determine a locality’s total budget. For example, in Oswego County, 80 percent of the county’s budget goes toward paying for state and federal mandates. This is similar for all counties throughout the state. It is not fair for Gov. Cuomo to say, as he did again during this year’s State of the State address, that localities need to do more to cut costs when such a substantial portion of their budgets are dictated by state and federal mandates. Many localities have already cut their spending and staffing needs to stay within the state’s 2 percent property tax cap.

The bottom line is rising property taxes make it difficult for businesses and residents to afford owning a home or business in New York. Another report out late last year confirms once again that high tax states like New York and New Jersey are losing residents to states that do not have these high taxes. This outward migration impacts everything from job opportunities, to education, to public safety. If this governor is serious about helping the upstate economy and creating jobs, New York needs to make these structural changes, so we can turn this outward migration around and help make our state more attractive and affordable for young professionals, businesses, and homeowners.                           

William (Will) A. Barclay is the Republican representative of the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact him at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us, or (315) 598-5185.