Property Tax Cures and Budget Battles
None other than veteran Channel 7 anchor, Irv Weinstein, sent out a mass email to his contemporaries here in WNY that ended up in our mailbox. This link to the Wall Street Journal's take on the woes property taxes cause in upstate New York, and specifically mentioning Buffalo, is timely. The Erie County 2009 budget, amidst vetoes and amendments will be bandied about this week, and property tax is an issue of great importance and contentious argument between the county executive and the legislature, each saying the other would raise it.
A letter from Erie County Executive Chris Collins' office last week in response to this post, stated: Erie County Executive Chris Collins says the County Budget amendments approved by the Legislature Majority raise the property tax rate 35% higher than what he proposed. In addition, many of the amendments ignore County Charter, and therefore are null and void and do not impact the tax levy.
Under the County Executive’s 2009 proposed budget, the tax rate went from $4.94 to $5.12 per $1,000 of assessed value, representing a 3.6% increase over 2008. The Legislature Majority has increased the tax rate from $4.94 to $5.18 per $1,000 of assessed value, a 4.8% increase over 2008. This is 35% greater than proposed by the County Executive.
“As a result of their mistakes, they have raised property taxes 35% more than my conservative proposal,” said County Executive Collins. “This is an outrageous mistake and I will not stand for it. This afternoon, I have instructed my senior management team to work overtime on devising a legal and financial way to fix the legislature’s mistake and return this money back to County taxpayers. This is a fiscal shell game designed to bolster election year prospects. I will not let county taxpayers foot the bill for the Legislature’s political gamesmanship. Our first step toward protecting county taxpayers and returning this money to them will be to veto the significant pork and patronage additions included in this package. The Legislature can help me fix their mistake by upholding my vetoes and respecting the County taxpayers hard earned dollars.”
Chair of Finance, Management and Budget Committee Kathy Konst is busy getting the legislature ready for Collin's budget response today.
"We should have [Collins'] vetoes by the end of day, or 2PM tomorrow at the latest," Konst said. As for allegations Collins made in the above statement, Konst stated, "The only person playing games is Collins, and the taxpayer will pay for that. He was on WBEN's Hardline with Kevin Hardwick this weekend talking about his "responsible" budget. I called in and I'm stunned by his arrogance. (Konst is the last caller, and worth listening to.) He's made an absolutely ridiculous personal assault. In the news and all of the media, he's stated that his goal is to recruit candidates against us acting like a party boss. He is hell-bent on raising property taxes. He said he believes the budget he presented is perfect. Our attempt is to right his mistakes in things he didn't fund."
Konst goes on to say that the legislature did not raise any spending that would demand an increase in property taxes, but in fact made a lateral move with funds that Collins had erroneously placed in a general fund.
"A budget is a flexible and fluid document to be amended with inflow or cuts - it's not static, and when we are faced with, say a 5 percent cut from New York State, we need to scramble," Konst said. "We moved the vehicular usage tax - that Collins put in a general fund - back to the department where it came in - the auto bureau, in a lateral move. Collins says we increased a revenue area, but it's not an increase; it's a move to where it belonged. I have not spoken to one accounting professional who agrees with Collins. Even [Erie County Budget Director] Greg Gash admitted the error and [Erie County Clerk] Kathy Hochul made the lateral fund move."
Konst says the bottom line is, "We didn't add revenue. We do not support a property tax raise. We made over $9 million in cuts, and allotted over a million to where it belonged as per Erie County Cultural Resources Advisory Board (ECCRAB) board recommendations. It was more equitable and fair."
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blackrocklifer
The taxes that Collins and other Republicans like to whine about are the result of not embracing a regional government. If Erie County towns want their precious autonomy left intact then let them pay for it. As a City of Buffalo taxpayer I am tired of paying county taxes and getting nothing from a government that seems to represent only the suburbs.
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PaulBuffalo
New York City regionalized long ago by incorporating the outer boroughs. All other areas throughout New York State should take up the mantle of regionalization now to simplify government and reduce the number of politicians in office. This economic crisis demands dramatic changes.
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STEEL
29 school districts in Erie County - 1 school district in Charlotte's Mecklenburg (sp?) county!
Guess who has the growing economy.
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bhorvath
This website would do well by not polarizing the city/burbs issue more than it should. Incorporation needs folks to appreciate each other's situation so that it's no big deal to do what you are saying above, so that it's realized that it's a good thing for everyone.
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AtwaterLouse
BRLifer and others may be '...tired of paying county taxes and getting nothing from a government that seems to represent only the suburbs...',
but remember the Census says over 70% of Erie County residents live outside of Buffalo.
Less than 3 of 10 county residents (taxpayers) live in Buffalo. So it makes sense for county government to have a mostly suburban focus. That's proportional representation. Despite that, most county-level tax money is spent within boundaries of the city - for better or worse, whatever - and no I wont argue whether that's true.
Also, the county govt has nothing to do with school districts so that issue is maybe good for another thread or a comment of the day, but people shouldn't be confused about that having anything to do with the county budget.
Otherwise this sounds like the million-and-1st city vs burbs debate, so I'll pass on that.
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chrishawley
There are so many fallacies and unsupported claims in the WSJ article, it's hard to know where to begin. It's a great example of free market ideologues believing a claim first, then finding evidence to support it.
What will help Buffalo the most is an ambitious public works program that can create value-enhancing infrastructure for economic development. That may actually require raising taxes, and it would be worth every penny.
Does anyone really believe that the Grant Street area, or any struggling part of Buffalo and Western New York, is being held back because property taxes are too high? Really? That's the missing piece of the puzzle? Folks in these neighborhoods pay almost nothing for property taxes, and suffer from a lack of public investment in infrastructure, schools, transit, quality streetscapes - the elements that make a city an attractive place to do business.
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STEEL
There are many Counties that run school districts. Waste happens on all levels of government in WNY. All those little wasteful government entities use up money that has to be raised out of property taxes so yes it is a county thing.
Don't complain about high taxes in WNY if you are not willing to get rid of all the silly duplication in WNY government.
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SnarkFest
Totally misleading argument there AtwaterL. The majority of people in Erie county live in Buffalo and the Cities and towns that share a border with Buffalo.
Checkout the census map showing population by square mile. http://tinyurl.com/63el83
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al-alo
just for point of reference, the 2006 census puts the ratio closer to 1 of 3 individuals in Erie county are city residents. of course, that counts for the rural residents in the county population. so a city v. suburbs (rural residents withheld) ratio would favor the city more than these numbers suggest.
276,059 - 2006*
921,390 - 2006**
*http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3611000.html
**http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36029.html
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AtwaterLouse
al-alo, I'd figure BRLifer considers county spending in Springville every bit as non-urban as spending in Clarence because he didn't make that disticntion in his complaint, but if it makes anyone feel better let's say the Erie Co. population is over 70% non-urban instead of saying suburban.
I've no idea what your point is about the math. Using your numbers, 276,059 divided by 921,390 is under 30%. It's 29.96% So that means less than 3 in 10 county residents are in the city, just as I wrote.
Do you get some different answer?
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al-alo
Louse,
SRY - I reversed my division, I stand corrected. it was a long day, if that is an excuse - its not.
im not sure what BRLifer would think, but for me, rural and suburban arent the same animal. farmers arent always fond of cul-de-sacs overrunning their family's way of life. and rural poor might have more in common with urban poor, than the geographically closer upper-middle class areas of the ex-urbs. and folks in the City face many of the same issues as those in the inner suburbs.
"non-urban" doesnt feel entirely accurate to me, either. i mean, is North Buffalo that different from southern Kenmore or Tonawanda? perhaps a measure of density? I dont know if there is really a black and white division. now i just sound like im arguing for the sake of arguing. but you know what i mean.
frankly, it really isnt easy to create a true us vs. them. interests overlap. surprising coalitions can come together over varying issues.
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blackrocklifer
Rural areas and inner ring suburbs have much in common with the city and I should have made that distinction. It is sprawl and the "new" suburbs that are the target of my criticism. For a region that is shrinking it seems like a bad idea to keep building more housing further away from the center. The destruction of farmland and the huge expense of expanding infrastructure is costing us all while diverting resources away from the city. The future is in sustainable communities and that is where tax dollars should be invested.
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AtwaterLouse
SnarkFest - I agree with what you wrote. My 3/10 portion was for the "City of Buffalo taxpayer" label used in blackrocklifer's 16:19 comment, and I had no broader argument beyond replying to his complaint.
al-alo - thanks for confirming 3/10 for city portion. And ok, the 7/10 is non-city instead of non-urban, if any label is ever needed. The less labeling, the better.
Ok the city and I need a little break from each other. I should be back in a couple weeks or so. You guys be sure to block all the hotel funding ripoffs, and don't let any of the sports teams move away.
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fill
I have just received notice that the assessment on my Allentown house is being raised 40%. There is no need to raise taxes - Just raise the assessment by unconscionable percentages !!!
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NewBuffalo
"I have just received notice that the assessment on my Allentown house is being raised 40%. There is no need to raise taxes - Just raise the assessment by unconscionable percentages !!! "...........................
FILL....Has your property value gone up? Allentown has seen a MAJOR property value increase over the last few years. If not then go and fight it. If it has then this is what happens when a city rebuilds. If you were paying $1500 in tax's and now its $2700 welcome to capitalism. Move to the burbs and pay $4000.
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