• Brian Kolb (NYS Assemblyman – Canandaigua), New York State Assembly Minority Leader;
• George Oros, Chief of Staff for Westchester County Executive, Rob Astorino; and
• Mary Foster, Mayor – City of Peekskill, Member of Mayoral Task Force on Mandate and Property Tax Relief of the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM); and
• Lisa Davis, Executive Director, Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association

The non-school district sponsored forum was held at Fox Lane Middle School in Bedford Central School District (“BCSD”). Susan Wollin, President of the BCSD Board of Education, gave welcoming remarks and discussed BCSD’s perspective on mandates. Further BCSD information about mandates is HERE.

After the event, Minority Leader Kolb signed BEST4NY’s mandate relief petition as no. 1321. You can sign, too. Join him and 1300+ other New Yorkers, including forum speakers George Oros and Lisa Davis, and BCSD Board of Education members Wollin, Grant, Goldstein, and former board members, Anderson, Markowski, Santomero – CLICK HERE AND SIGN BEST4NY’S BIPARTISAN ONLINE MANDATE RELIEF PETITION. Anonymous signatures are permitted.

Video of the event will be posted when available. Press coverage is HERE and HERE

ized by BEST4NY, “Solving New York’s Unfunded Mandate Crisis,” will take place tonight, Tuesday, October 2, at 7:30 p.m., in the “Little Theatre,” at Fox Lane Middle School, Route 172, Bedford, NY 10506. THE PUBLIC AND MEDIA ARE INVITED. Speakers will be:

• Brian Kolb (Canandaigua), New York State Assembly Minority Leader;
• George Oros, Chief of Staff for Westchester County Executive, Rob Astorino; and
• Mary Foster, Mayor -City of Peekskill, Member of Mayoral Task Force on Mandate and Property Tax Relief of the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM); and
• Lisa Davis, Executive Director, Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association

In NYCOM’s Mandate and Property Tax Task Force report, “You Can’t Cap What You Can’t Control,” former NYCOM President, Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, said, “Local governments throughout our state are facing an imminent crisis that has been years in the making…These mandates are insatiable in their appetite for property taxes and…threaten the sustainability of our local governments, communities and state.”

“Years in the making”? Translation? For years the NYS Legislature has ignored repeated, reasoned requests for mandate relief by Mayors, Supervisors, Town and School Board Members, County Executives and County Legislators. For years – NYS Senators and Legislators charged their uncontrolled, spiraling spending to the property tax credit cards of overburdened taxpayers who are forced to spend less for their needs to cover the Legislators’ excesses – a credit card on somebody else’s account that the Legislators issued to themselves. For years – NYS Legislators have dispersed and camouflaged their overspending in county, school, and town budgets, but how many of them attend county, school, or town public hearings on those budgets to explain and defend the spending lines attributable to their actions? For years, NYS Senators’ and Assemblymen’s have evaded accountability for pacmen-like budgetary spending lines which gobble up ever increasing portions of county, school, town budgets and force layoffs of teachers/staff and local service cuts.

At the Town of Bedford’s 9/20/11 public hearing about overriding the tax cap, Deputy Supervisor Peter Chryssos said, “…the state has an accumulated deficit of 45 billion dollars. The same people who year after year handed us increases in…taxes are now telling us that we have to be more responsible…[and] how to manage our money. This is nothing but a shell game…Impossible…I find the hubris at the state level… just unconscionable…they don’t have the courage to come and face you…”

Want to help long-suffering local elected officials and local taxpayers now? Want to help solve this crisis right now? REVIEW AND SIGN BEST4NY’S BIPARTISAN ONLINE MANDATE RELIEF PETITION and partner with 1300+ other New Yorkers and county/town/school elected officials who have signed already. Anonymous signatures are permitted.

urned for the summer versus the noise and hoopla after the 2011 tax cap passed demonstrates the determination of a majority of the NYS Legislature to deny mandate relief and allow its own spending to escalate uncontrollably.

How does the Legislature’s mandate spending addiction work? Simple – they give more food (tax money) to the favored child (state spending) by reducing the food for the other child (county/school/town spending), a/k/a their One Child Left Behind policy. Put another way, imagine that your State Senator and State Assemblyman issued themselves unlimited credit cards on your credit card account, and you must pay for whatever they buy. Since you don’t have unlimited money, you are forced to spend less on yourself to pay for their escalating charges. That’s the mandate problem. The Legislature’s tax cap, without mandate relief, forces spending cuts by local government in order to pay for the Legislature’s own uncontrolled state spending. The Legislature refuses to do (cut its own unfunded mandated spending) what it forces local government to do (cut local government spending).

Last spring, pension reform legislation was enacted. However, it was mandate relief lite that gave no immediate help for mayors, supervisors, county legislators, school and town board members who desperately want mandate relief now for over-stressed county, school, and town budgets. And as his term in office continues, Governor Cuomo seems to have lost his will to do more than nibble around the edges of the problem – he’s not mobilizing the People of New York to tackle the big solutions for the Legislature’s unfunded mandate crisis.

The NYS Legislature gives new meaning to the phrase, “Silence is golden.” The Legislature’s mandate relief silence last June means that local gold, property taxes, continues to flow upstream to Albany in record amounts (Westchester and Rockland Counties take note HERE and HERE ) to pay for Albany’s unfunded and fiscally irresponsible mandated spending. NYS Legislators who support the mandates status quo hope that voters fixated on federal elections won’t notice their silence or hold them accountable and will return them to office to keep New York State on the path to bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, in counties, schools, and municipalities, layoffs, program cuts, and invading reserve funds, are the name of the game. According to the New York State School Boards Association Report, “The New Reality for Schools,” 2/3 of the NYS school districts that responded were forced to lay off teachers and staff to comply with the tax cap. Last March, Bedford’s School Board President Susan Wollin courageously explained the bad news at Assemblyman Bob Castelli’s budget hearing, “No amount of change we affect locally will ever be enough without systemic change in Albany…we project cutting 70, yes 70, staff positions in next year’s budget. Without systemic change to accompany the imposed tax cap, we stand to repeat this scenario annually.” Note the word – ANNUALLY.

The Bedford School budget adopted after her comments cut less than 70 for various reasons. But whether it’s 70, 60, or 50, how long is a quality school system sustainable with this much financial pressure by the Legislature? The Legislature has become an architect of unemployment. Mandate relief is now a jobs preservation necessity. The Legislature’s mandate policy which diverts property tax money from local needs to mandated state spending favors one child (the mandated state spending) while putting the other child (local spending) on a starvation diet.

And if layoffs haven’t hit your area yet, ask your local officials about reserve funds. Reserve funds aren’t manna from heaven – they are taxes you paid before that weren’t spent in the year you paid them and were kept for the future. Using prepaid taxes to cover current spending doesn’t reduce taxes, it just reduces what you pay in the current year. And using reserve funds, prepaid taxes, camouflages the amount of spending actually going on, since reserves don’t shown on a tax bill as a reduction of the total due. The bill just shows the bottom line amount due.

What should voters do? Don’t just listen to us – listen to Gov. Cuomo’s advice before he lost his enthusiasm (see the video at end of the following link), “We only win this battle when we get the people engaged in communities all across this state…” If New York State is be saved from bankruptcy, we, the people, the voters, can’t afford to lose our enthusiasm. Who knows? Perhaps we’ll inspire the Governor to get back into the ring with us. Politics is a team sport – leader/voter partnerships get things done.

NYS voters need to create a new NYS legislative majority favoring mandate relief – one state Senator and Assemblyman at a time – either by pressuring overspending incumbents to join the mandate relief team or by electing new candidates. Voters, incumbent Senators and Assemblymen, candidates, everyone, can use BEST4NY’s Mandate Relief petition as a way to inform the public and to give legislators a MANDATE FOR MANDATE RELIEF by encouraging voters to sign the petition.

Voters – please sign BEST4NY’s bipartisan online petition “NYS MANDATE RELIEF NOW!” and ask your friends to sign. Add a link to the petition to your emails. Join the 1200+ elected officials and neighors statewide from both major political parties who have already signed. such as, Assemblymen Bob Castelli, Steve Katz, Jane Corwin, Steve McLaughlin, and Ray Walter; the NYS School Boards Association; Rye Brook Mayor Joan Feinstein; Supervisors Joe Carvin (Rye), Paul Feiner (Greenburgh), and Lee Roberts (Bedford); School Board Presidents Susan Wollin (Bedford), Alyson Kiesel (Chappaqua), Ellen Baecher (Hastings-on-Hudson); Orangetown Town Councilman Troy; Orange County Legislator Day; Lisa Davis, Executive Director – Westchester Putnam School Boards Association; NYS Assembly candidates Kim Izzarelli and Kieran Lalor; Brian Sampson, Executive Director of Unshackle Upstate; and NYS Senate candidates Bob Cohen and Justin Wagner; and many other school and town board members.

Another tool for voters besides the petition is to organize a Mandate Relief public forum and information session in their community. See the upcoming events above. See the post and video link below about BEST4NY’s June 11 forum in Hastings-on-Hudson – many county, school, and town elected officials are eager to speak to their communities about the mandate problem and the Legislature’s failure to respond. See , LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS DISCUSS THEIR DESPERATE NEED FOR MANDATE RELIEF AT BEST4NY’S PUBLIC FORUM ON JUNE 11, 2012

Other examples of such forums organized by others are:

League of Women’s Voters’ Unfunded Mandates Public Forum in Rye, NY, on 4/21/12. Speakers included (minute 13:05) Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino followed by (minute 20:50) Rye Brook Mayor Joan Feinstein, followed by Rye Neck Union Free School District Superintendent Peter Mustich.

NYS Assemblyman Steve Katz’s Mandate Relief Press Conference on May 18, 2012

ollow this link directly to the signature page: Sign the petition The 1200+ (as of today) signatures include the New York State School Board Assocation; NYS Assemblymen Robert Castelli, Steve McLaughlin, Steve Katz, Ray Walter, Jane Corwin; and many elected school and town board members around NYS. Other endorsing organizations are New Yorkers for Growth, American for Prosperity (NY Chapter), and Unshackle Upstate. Further details in the post below.

Paul Feiner – Supervisor, Town of Greenburgh

Eileen Baecher – President, Board of Education Hastings-on-Hudson School District

Niki Armacost-Trustee, Hastings-On-Hudson

Francis Frobel, Hastings-on-Hudson Village Manager

Vincent Toomey- Attorney, Labor & Employment Law

“Last year I had to do something for the first time that I had nightmares about, I had to lay people off,” said Supervisor Feiner.  “Mandates are forcing government to destroy people’s lives.”

Press coverage is HERE

Watch the event:   Part 1 – Introduction and first 11 minutes                  Part 2

County, school, and municipal elected officials throughout NYS desperately need mandate relief.  They are drowning in the Legislature’s red ink and are forced to lay off workers and cut local programs and services in order to pay for NYS’s excessive and unsustainable spending.   The Legislature’s no mandate relief policy is a policy of spoiling the favored child (mandated spending) and starving the orphan (local spending).  Local county, school, and town budgets have two parts – local spending and state mandated spending.  By imposing the tax cax without mandate relief, the Legislature forces local government to destroy local people’s lives - local property taxes are applied to  the Legislature’s unsustainable and excessive state spending.”

Because the Legislature’s mandated spending is dispersed and hidden in county, school, and town budgets, voters and community members typically do not realize the extent of the problem and  the Legislature’s responsibility for it.   Local officials are caught in the middle.     BEST4NY recommends that voters and local elected officials through NYS organize mandate relief forums and information meetings in their own communities to inform their neighbors and mobilize public support.  Voters need to create a new mandate relief majority in the NYS Legislature - one Senator and one Assemblyman at a time – either by pressuring incumbents to change their positions or by electing new legislators.

Incumbent Senators and Assemblymen and candidates can use BEST4NY’s Mandate Relief petition as a vehicle to inform the public and to give legislators a MANDATE FOR MANDATE RELIEF by encouraging voters to sign the petition.   Supervisor Feiner and Board President Baecher and many other elected officials have signed.

Please contact us if you would like assistance in organizing your own Mandate Relief forum.

l

ow this link directly to the signature page: Sign the petition The 1100+ (as of today) signatures include the NYSSBA; NYS Assemblymen Robert Castelli, Steve McLaughlin, Steve Katz, Ray Walter, Jane Corwin; and many elected school and town board members around NYS. Other endorsing organizations are New Yorkers for Growth, American for Prosperity (NY Chapter), and Unshackle Upstate.

Last May 15, NYS voters voted on local school budgets. Voters and school boards (and town boards and county legislatures) tend to focus on the here and now and are very unhappy about teacher layoffs occurring across NYS. But the current layoffs are the tip of the iceberg – ask your school board to be honest about their future layoff projections, if nothing is done to curb the Layoff Legislature’s uncontrolled mandated spending. Bedford Central School District last March courageously projected future cuts of 70 staff positions ANNUALLY, unless things change. The NYS Legislature has become the T.U.A., the Teachers’ Unemployment Agency.

To limit uncontrolled state spending and reduce the teacher layoffs you’ll be voting on next year, Sign the petition . Voter inaction is forfeiting the game and perpetuates the destructive status quo. Multiply your effort simply by asking a spouse, family member, friend, or neighbor to sign as well (2 people should not sign on the same line – that only counts as one signature). Follow the example of the New York State School Boards Association which represents over 700 school boards and 5,000 school board members across NYS and which signed the petition on line no. 114.

And finally, call or email your school board and town board to support their efforts and need for Mandate Relief. Join forces with them to inform and mobilize your local voters to insist upon meaningful mandate reform from the majority of NYS Senators and Assemblymen who oppose mandate relief.

Ask your local board members to sign the petition also – they are voters, too, and for years the Legislature has ignored their requests for mandate relief. The local spending cuts imposed by your local officials are driven by the Layoff Legislature’s escalating spending. After limiting local government spending, but not its own spending, the Layoff Legislature should not escape accountability by camouflaging its spending in local budgets and hiding behind local officials who lack legal power to force the Legislature to play by the same spending rules which the Legislature imposed on local governments.

As Rensselaear County Executive Jimino explains so well, it’s like 3 people going out for dinner, 2 ordering burgers to save money (local governments), but the 3^rd eating surf and turf (the NYS Legislature) and then insisting that the total bill be split 3 ways.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has said (see video) that “Albany legislators are spending addicts.” When the Legislature reduces its state budget spending, but allows its mandated state spending hidden in local budgets to escalate uncontrollably, it’s a case of spending addicts reducing their public drinking, while continuing to drink to excess in private.

Still undecided whether to sign? Watch the video of the League of Women’s Voters’ Unfunded Mandates Public Forum in Rye on 4/21/12 at http://vimeo.com/41332643 Speakers included (minute 13:05) Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino followed by (minute 20:50) Rye Brook Mayor Joan Feinstein, followed by Rye Neck Union Free School District Superintendent Peter Mustich.

“A p

artner in Let New York Work coalition, Best4NY, has an online petition dedicated to the issues of mandate relief for local governments. Best4NY is based in Westchester County, but its issues are the same as ours. They want affordable communities that we are all proud to call home. Please take a moment to sign their petition. It will only help us show the broad, across the state support for meaningful and significant mandate relief. You can complete the petition at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/mandate-relief-now.html.”

See LETNYWORK to learn more about how well-known organizations such as the NYS Association of Counties, the New York State School Boards Association, and the New York Conference of Mayors, have united to reverse policies of the NYS Legislature which are sinking New York State. BEST4NY joined the coalition last January.