Writing about Dutchess County town budgets, The Poughkeepsie Journal notes that
“Some cities, towns and villages may have to cut spending or spend rainy-day funds if state lawmakers approve Gov. David Paterson's plan to reduce municipal aid this year by 5 percent.
“On the other hand, some local municipalities were conservative in drafting their budgets in November and anticipated cuts in state aid.”
I’d like to know more about these budget-cutting towns—because here in Columbia County it’s hard to find a municipality that has had the foresight to tighten its belt to anticipate these likely cuts in State aid.
A far more likely scenario in many Hudson Valley towns is that budgets will not be curbed enough to reflect the shortfall. Instead, the deficit will be passed on to local property tax payers, who will see their share of their Town budget jump by several percentage points. This will further encourage the more unscrupulous assessors out there to hike the assessments of political enemies and “outsiders” so as lessen the flack they get for the raise from their buddies.
Two likely spins that one can anticipate from town leaders to deflect budget criticism are:
- Trumpet a “reduction of the growth rate” in town spending; or
- Announce a budget “freeze.”
Both measures sound responsible at first blush. But these political spins can only pass muster if there is widespread economic illiteracy among the public... For in both scenarios, the actual tax bills of local property taxpayers still go up. In order to keep real-world taxes paid stable, towns need to reduce their total budget by the same amount as the State aid cuts.
