WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. By John F. Bailey. November 5, 2008: Governor David Patterson appeared at a Budget Town Meeting tonight in White Plains, before a pre-selected audience of 200 prominent officials and key persons at the County Center where he took questions on the state economy and the financial sector revenue crisis. The Governor promised significant pain ahead as the legislature convenes November 18 to address more revenue cuts.
Governor David L. Patterson taping a PBS TV Town Meeting in White Plains Wednesday Night.
The governor said his mandatory 4% Property Tax Cap was still in play, that he had met with the School Superintendents Association and the New York State Teachers, and that they had suggested ways that the property tax cap could work, and that the two groups could see the property tax cap working. The Governor did not elaborate, and in the 15-minute press conference afterwards, there was no question was asked to go into detail on that development.
The governor made clear that if districts were hurt by a 4% property tax cap to the point where their performce would suffer, the governor allowed that the state could help out with more financial aid. He said the purpose of the cap was to force school districts to moderate their spending. He said that districts could choose to submit budgets taking property taxes beyond cap limits, that they were not limited to it if voters approved it. He said a Circuit Breaker tax relief program (favored by the Assembly earlier this year, limiting the amount of property tax based on income, did not address the problem of encouraging school districts to throttle back spending. He said he regretted the state senate had passed a property tax cap because it pressured the Assembly prematurely and inhibited discussion.
In the question and answer session that was videotaped by WNET Channel 13, the governer said he was going to establish an office to respond to inquiries from foreign investors as a way to spur investment in the New York State economy.
In an effort to trim state medical expenses, he said he and state health organizations were going to work with the federal government to get an increase the reimbursement for Medicare that New York gets from the federal government, currently at 50%. Governor Patterson noted that other states receive as much as 80% reimbursement from the federal government. He reported that New York State contributed some $88 Billion dollars to Washington, and that if the state received just 10% of that in aid, it would eliminate this year’s projected current budget deficit($2 Billion), and take care of the projected 2009-2010 deficit to boot.
The governer said that in his address to Washington last week, (he made a plea for federal aid for the state due to the dramatic downturn in Wall Street revenue), that considering how much New York State contributed to the federal government, the request was not so much a bailout, as a “handback.”
He said the state had some 300 infrastructure projects “ready to go” across the state, which could be begun with federal help, and hoped that an economic stimulus package would be coming from Washington to be able to start the state on some of those projects under the new Obama administration.
In response to several questions from health and social service organizations concerned about “balancing the budget on the backs of those most in need,” the governor said it was his job to make equitable and fair cuts across the board, and that he felt terrible about having to do tha “your conscience bothers you even though you know you’re doing the right thing.”
The government said health care programs at small businesses would be aided by possibly cutting taxes on small businesses. This policy, WPCNR notes, might indicate that property tax reform via means of a establishing a separate tax rate for commercial properties in Westchester County, might certainly be off the table in the governor’s thinking, but WPCNR did not get the opportunity to ask this question of the governor or the bill’s sponsor, Adam Bradley.
The governor said he hoped to resuscitate the New York economy by attracting more research into more green energy technology at the state’s research campuses.
In a question asked by White Plains attorney Mark Weingarten, asking how the state might spur development in the state, Governor Patterson said that the state has not responded well to foreign inquiries about moving to New York State. He said he would change this by establishing an office to handle and entice foreign investment into the state. He said he was inclined to offer large tax incentives to businesses seeking to relocate in New York given the present shortfall in revenues. He also said he did not want to increase taxes on businesses due to the flight of businesses from the state when this was done in the past.
On the matter of the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement, the Governor said the financing of that project ($16 Billion) was under study, but he would not sell the bridge project to a private entity. He said a committee had been formed to study financing options (a public-private partnership) that would report in January. He ruled out selling state assets such as highways and bridges.
The governor said he had met with four legislature leaders Wednesday morning at their request to discuss the upcoming November 18 budget trimming session, and he was gratified they had reached out to him to address the current year $1.5 Billion deficit, which the governor felt would end up at $2 Billion. He did not elaborate on the substance of the discussion.
Paul Schwarz of White Plains asked about affordable housing funds availability in the present crisis. The Governor said he has asked state agencies to look into how they can streamline the redtape process of arranging the funding for these projects (municipal and closely held bonds), which has long delayed the start of these projects. (The Kenisco Terrace project in White Plains, and the Horton’s Mill project on Silver Lake were delayed some five years, awaiting finalization of such funding.)
The governor closed the meeting saying that his purpose was to get the state to spend within its revenues to avoid this happening in the future. He said the state could not depend on Wall Street revenue coming back as strongly as in the past (constituting 20% of state revenues).
This was was not a spontaneous meeting. It was initiated by the governor based on a request by Channel 13 WNET in New York for a phone-in program. The Governor’s office suggested a televised town meeting format. Attendees were invited by invitation. Questions were submitted just prior to the taping, written and submitted upon arrival by invited participants to the television show.
Channel 13 hosts and producers selected from the questions submitted; arranged the order, and called upon the writers of the questions to answer them. Persons coming in off the street in hopes of speaking, were allowed in the conference room when producers found they had enough room.
The audience included many legislative and local dignataries, including Assemblypersons Adam Bradley, Amy Paulin, Richard Brodsky, Sandra Galef. WPCNR did not notice any representatives from White Plains city government. The audience was not exclusively Westchester County, either. A similar town meeting format would be held upstate in the near future.
