Mayors put plea to state on Web

ALBANY — Mayors from around the Empire State want state lawmakers to understand the local impact of decisions made in Albany.

On Monday, the New York State Conference of Mayors unveiled an online project called Stop the Tax Shift, which seeks to explain how the state government's practice of pushing unfunded state mandates onto lower levels of government. This, in turn, has driven up local property tax levels throughout the state as localities struggle to pay for state programs.

What the mayors say they really want to see is a commitment to continued local funding under the Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) program.

"Will our leaders repeat the near fatal mistakes of the early 1990s when local aid was slashed and from which many communities have never fully recovered?" asked John MacDonald, NYCOM president and mayor of the city of Cohoes, Albany County, in a press release. "Or will the governor and state legislators take the right approach and protect municipal property taxpayers from the devastating effects of cuts in AIM funding?"

On the new Web site, StopTheTaxShift.org, NYCOM touts the success of the aid program, calling it an "antidote to tax shifting" that has slowed the growth in local taxes.

"In recent years, the state has made significant headway in building a tradition of predictable growth in state aid," NYCOM said. "This renewed fiscal commitment is producing positive and measurable results ... For example, there has been a net decline in city property tax levies between 2005 and 2008. It is a fair statement to make that AIM is New York's one property tax relief program that works, and works in a way that does not foster higher local spending."

The new Web site offers analyses of how dozens of state mandates affect both the local municipal bottom line and the individual taxpayer. The site also gives New Yorkers a way to contact state officials.