Counties applaud New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie for reaching an agreement on a state budget that makes historic investments in housing, mental health care, education, elections and public safety while protecting local taxpayers from significant new state mandates. 

 As the administrative arm of state government, counties are always striving to work collaboratively with our partners at the state level, and a perfect example is the final budget’s wind-down of the Countywide Shared Services Initiative. The agreement reached in the budget honors the state’s funding commitment for projects submitted prior to January 31 while also relieving local government staff—who are already stretched thin from the burdensome requirements of this outdated program. In addition, the enacted budget extends the school bus stop arm camera program which has proven to be successful across our state.

In the end, all state budgets are a series of compromises, and we appreciate state leaders for working with counties to craft legislation that will bring New York State into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on real property tax foreclosures. While not a perfect solution, the compromise reached in the budget is fair to property owners, taxpayers and county governments that are charged with enforcing New York State tax law. 

We are disappointed that state leaders could not reach an agreement on legislation to achieve fairness in the short-term rental market. Counties will continue to advocate for legislation that levels the playing field between hotels and short-term rentals and empowers local governments to collect outside revenue that reduces the local tax burden while also enabling new investments in tourism and hospitality.

We look forward to working with the governor and state legislators throughout the rest of the legislative session on this and a host of other urgent issues facing local governments, including rescuing local EMS systems that are in crisis across the state, strengthening local recycling programs, and addressing the severe and chronic shortages in the local government workforce.

Daniel McCoy
President, New York State Association of Counties
Albany, NY