Mayors to state lawmakers: We need help

ALBANY -- Mayors across New York testified Tuesday that they need additional aid from the state to cover budget bills and invest in their schools.

The daylong budget hearing near the Capitol came as local governments grapple with growing costs for services, flat state aid and the need for infrastructure improvements. They are also dealing with a property-tax cap that allows for almost no new taxes.

The so-called "Tin Cup Brigade" of elected leaders made the annual trek to the Capitol to detail how they are dealing with a stagnant economy and to deride unfunded, state-mandated programs.

"Cutting services is certainly not the answer," Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said in his testimony. "From schools to local services to federal funding, Yonkers has been hit hard by cuts over the years, and we’re only now just starting to come back."

Spano is pushing the state Legislature to pass a $2 billion, four-phase plan to rebuild Yonkers’ 39 public schools. He said the average age of the Yonkers schools is 75, and the district is 4,100 students over capacity. The funding would be paid out over 13 years, he estimated.

"We’re crafting legislation now to allow for a partnership to exist to give us some ability – whether it through public-private partnerships or state allotment – to allow us to rebuild our schools," Spano said.

Local governments are increasingly concerned about the aid they receive from state government: State aid to municipalities, at $715 million a year, has been flat since 2008. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing to keep it the same for the fiscal year that starts April 1.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio testified for five hours, and he was grilled by state lawmakers over the city's finances. The Democratic mayor said the city would take a fiscal hit if Cuomo's budget was approved.

But lawmakers, particularly Senate Republicans, questioned why the city doesn't have to live under the tax cap like the rest of the state, saying the city has surpluses that it can rely on.

"The problems are pretty much the same, and they are living under a property-tax cap," Sen. Kathy Marchione, R-Halfmoon, Saratoga County, said of upstate municipalities. "If we’re one state, then we are one state, and we should be under the same guidelines to save our taxpayers’ dollars."

De Blasio countered that he doesn't support the tax cap, saying the city needs flexibility with its finances because of its size and uniqueness. The city sends more money to the state than it gets back, the Democratic mayor pointed out, and that he doesn't propose property-tax increases.

"If New York City was to falter, everyone would be hurt by that," de Blasio said. "We’re trying to learn from the lessons of the past."

The problems across upstate cities are diverse, the Democratic mayors from the largest upstate cities testified. The city of Rochester ranks second in the nation in childhood poverty, Mayor Lovely Warren said, and the city needs state aid on par with the other upstate cities.

Warren requested an additional $30.9 million in state aid. The money would cover the the unfunded portion of the city's aid to its schools: The state gives the city $88.2 million each year for its operations, but the city has to pay $119 million for Rochester schools.

Warren testified that 70 percent of the city's tax levy goes to its schools, but other cities get state funding that covers their entire school tab. The city pays more to its schools than other upstate cities, she said.

"The money that they receive from the state covers the amount that they have to pay to their school districts, plus they get more," Warren said of the other upstate cities. "So we’re saying, ‘Don’t give us any more, just give us enough money to cover what we have to pay to our school districts as you give to other cities.’"

Schools are part of the cities' overall spending plans for their fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Cuomo's budget includes $22 billion for upstate infrastructure over five years, and it includes $100 million for a downtown redevelopment competition and $20 million for a consolidation competition.

"Money for roads, bridges, water and sewer systems will improve the sustainability and quality of life in our communities," said Peter Baynes, executive director of the state Conference of Mayors. "What the governor’s plan is lacking, however, is evidence of a true state-local fiscal partnership that helps cities and villages address the fiscal challenges they confront in their day-to-day operations."

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said his city and other upstate cities are seeing an improving economy, but they still need additional help from the state. He praised Cuomo's focus on upstate, particularly Buffalo -- which has demolished 6,000 vacant homes in recent years.

"There’s still big challenges for all upstate communities," he said. "Fortunately the governor has been very focused on the needs of Buffalo and other upstate communities. We’re working hard to be more self-sufficient."

The cities will be dealing with a property-tax cap near zero. The cap for their upcoming fiscal year will be 0.12 percent -- the lowest since the cap was installed in 2011.

Cuomo has praised the tax cap for controlling taxes: From 2011 to 2013, the tax cap cut the growth in property taxes to 2.2 percent per year — less than half the average over the prior decade, Cuomo’s office said.

“Remember, my friends, the property tax is the killer tax in this state, and it has been for a long time. It’s nothing new,” the Democratic governor said in his State of the State speech Jan. 13.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner pointed to a Federal Reserve study that showed that for every dollar of infrastructure spending government undertakes, it yields a return of over $2 to the local community.

She also railed against corruption at the Capitol, saying that closing campaign-finance loopholes and improving voter registration would restore the public's trust in government.

"Corruption, in a word, is toxic to a democracy," Miner said in her written testimony.