New Group Wants to 'STOP' State's Mandates

This story was reported and written by Tom Auchterlonie, and posted by Ashley Tarr.

Unfunded mandates from the New York state level have been the talk of local government and school officials in recent years, as they are often cited as the main cause behind ever-rising property taxes. A new group, however, seeks to bring these officials together to push back. 

The new group, called STOP Albany, held its first press conference Wednesday in White Plains. Officials who spoke represented Westchester County, municipalities, school districts, business company and parents. 

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino was vocal in blasting state politicians in Albany. 

“Today we do stand united - schools, businesses, local governments, taxpayers – to send a simple yet very strong message to Albany, and that is 'stop!' Stop taking our power.” 

Astorino noted that there are nine unfunded mandates imposed on the county that will cost about $464 million, far exceeding whatever financial support they get. The county's mandates include a role in Medicaid and employee pension contributions. 
The county executive also felt that state officials do not feel the impact of the unfunded mandates. 

“They can say yes to everybody and every group and they do, and the consequences are not felt in Albany, they're felt locally through our taxes and ever-rising taxes at all levels.” 

“The system is badly broken,” said Harrison schools Superintendent Louis Wool, who is also president of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents. In the case of Harrison, he noted that the elimination of an employee contribution into the teachers' pension fund lead more than a decade ago to a cost of about $2.6 million for the upcoming 2013-14 budget, versus just roughly $400,000 had it remained in place. 

“It was a mistake. It was a terrible mistake. It shifted the burden exclusively to taxpayers.” 

Wool also took Albany to task for mandates in student testing and in how it imposed the new teacher and administrator evaluation system. In addition, he described a new pension level that is meant to be more fiscally prudent, known as Tier VI, as being limited because few new teachers, who would fall under it, are being hired. 

Ossining village Mayor William Hanauer, who is also president of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association, noted that in the case of his village there was a 72-percent rise in its mandatory contribution to the police pension fund over the last three years and a 55-percent hike during the same time for the Employee Retirement System (ERS). In 2012, facing rising employee costs, Ossining overrode the state-mandated property tax levy cap, which is the lesser of two percent or the inflation rate but has an exemption for a portion of the pension costs. 

“These cuts do have consequences,” he said. Other examples he stated that have hit municipalities involve judges pushing for settlement of tax assessment challenges regardless of their merits, and in the state not being slow to take on support for police on disability. Even though local officials have been discussing the connection between mandates and rising taxes for years, there was still a feeling that more needs to be done to educate people. 

Lisa Davis, who is president of the Westchester Putnam School Boards Association, acknowledged that there needs to be a better job done for education and stressed the need to build up grassroots support. 

The timing of the press conference came less than two days after people in school districts around the region voted on proposed 2013-14 budget, many of which were shaped by the issue. Speakers warned that not addressing the mandates could lead to more public employees losing their jobs, children's education being adversely impacted and even the financial strength of the pension system taking a hit. 
Astorino warned that more school budgets could be rejected in the future unless there is reform. 

The mandates have drawn particular interest due to the limits caused by the tax levy cap. Astorino noted that while he supported the cap, which was passed by the state government and went into law nearly two years ago, he did not think it would be good without mandate relief. 

William Mooney, president the Westchester County Association, a business group that supported the cap in 2011, acknowledged that they held a viewpoint that was “oversimplified.” 

“We thought that would be the blunt instrument that ultimately would cause mandate relief,” said Mooney, who supports STOP Albany. 

Kelly Chiarella, a Yonkers school parent who is director of the Westchester-East Putnam Regional PTA, noted that Yonkers is facing millions in costs for mandates, including roughly $3 million for the teacher and administrator evaluation. 
“Three million dollars could have brought back both our JV sports and our instrumental music.” 

Taking questions from various reporters, officials elaborated more on what they would like to see happen. 

When asked whether there was support for having the state do a full takeover of local pension liabilities, Wool replied that the state's constitution prevents changing the process. However, he added that talks could be made for cost sharing. 
Mooney, pointing to the change that the private sector has made to its retirement plans, argued that there should be a different type of pension plan offered. Davis noted that there is already precedent, referencing the SUNY system offering a choice of a defined benefit plan, which is the typical public employee structure, or a defined contribution plan. 

Asked about the role of state aid to help with the issue, Astorino felt that receiving more does not fix the problem. He would prefer that the state take over mandated programs while also tackling costs that he said are unsustainable. 

STOP Albany's online presences includes its website, stopalbany.com along with Twitter and Facebook accounts.