NY State has Its Own Work to do on Property Tax Relief: Rockland County Executive

Rockland County Executive Ed Day joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Thursday to discuss the need for property tax relief and realistic ways to achieve it.

But while Day welcomed the governor to Rockland, he pointed out the many ways that the county has already implemented consolidations and shared services, and suggested that the state has some work of its own to do.

Cuomo appeared in West Haverstraw to unveil a program to encourage counties and municipalities to consolidate and share services.

SEE: 'Property Taxes Are Breaking The Back Of This State': Gov. Cuomo

"The Governor's proposal to increase our current efforts in consolidation and shared services is a common sense concept that promotes fiscal responsibility and most importantly, can stem the rise of property taxes," Day said afterward in a statement. "This is a concept that we in Rockland County have already been actively and effectively implementing."

In his speech, the governor used Rockland often as an example. He said the average Rockland taxpayer pays $1,200 in state taxes and $9,000 in property taxes. He pointed out that there are 102 local government taxing entities in Rockland. There are 47 different offices.

Day said that it requires a coordinated effort to rein in spending and limit taxes — and that such an effort has to involve school districts, which make up more than 70 percent of the average residential property tax bill, Day said.

Cuomo said Thursday that the state had no control over property taxes and so the solution would have to be found locally. What he could offer, he said, was a carrot and stick approach: empower county executives to make all taxing entities participate in creating a savings plan that would go to voters. If voters rejected it, everyone would have to come up with a new plan. If voters approved it, the state would match the savings that taxpayers realized in a year.

But Day also pointed out that unfunded mandates from the state comprise an ever-increasing part of the expenses local governments must fund.

"I certainly appreciate the Governor further empowering local leaders to streamline government and reduce the burden on taxpayers in Rockland County and across New York," Day said. "This approach has to involve the schools and it has to incorporate relief from unfunded mandates."

Day listed many of the efforts already in place in Rockland to consolidate and share services. These are just some of the examples of how the county shares services with its five towns and many villages:

• The Department of Health conducts mosquito control for all the towns
• The Department of Highways shares equipment and expertise with towns and village
• The Department of Personnel administers civil service tests for towns, village and schools
• District Attorney Thomas Zugibe and Sheriff Louis Falco collaborate with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies through such initiatives as the Drug Task force, the Intelligence Task Force, initiatives on Organized Crime and Public Corruption among others.
• Rockland County also shares services through a police academy that provides quality, cost-effective training for all Rockland police departments.
• The Office of Fire and Emergency services shares equipment and personnel with municipalities throughout Rockland.
• Rockland County's efforts to share services even crosses state line through mutual aid agreements with Bergen County, N.J.
• Rockland was one of the founders of the Hudson Valley Municipal Purchasing Group, which is a shared regional approach to bid and contract opportunities. This shared service was so successful that it was used as a model for the Empire State Purchasing group in 2015. This shared approach to bidding gets the best price for taxpayers with the least cost for businesses.

"We are always looking for new ways to become more efficient and save our taxpayers money," Day said. "We look forward to seeing the details of the governor's proposal, which we hope will help continue to find sensible changes that make local government more efficient and more effective."

Patch file photo