RVC Mayor Mary Bossart serves on NYCOM property tax relief panel

Rockville Centre Mayor Mary Bossart joined a delegation of mayors from across Long Island at a Dec. 16 news conference to respond to a recent report containing recommendations from the New York State Conference of Mayors’ (NYCOM) Task Force on Mandate and Property Tax Relief.  Bossart and Mayor Paul Pontieri of Patchogue served as Long Island’s representatives on the statewide task force.

The report, “You Can’t Cap What You Can’t Control,” contains a significant set of mandate relief proposals, primarily in the workforce arena, that mayors say need to be adopted by the state Legislature for any form of a property tax cap to be viable. It also identifies rapidly rising costs – the growth of which is beyond local control – that the mayors say should be excluded from any tax cap.

“State mandates have tied the hands of local officials for many years, particularly regarding public sector salaries and benefits,” said Bossart. “These costs are the largest single component of village budgets and the most difficult to control because they are collectively bargained and, in the case of public safety, subject to binding arbitration. This report highlights the steps that must be taken to finally give us the ability to better manage our finances without having to resort to drastic cuts in services and jobs.”

In addition to calling on the state to impose a temporary freeze on public sector wages, the task force’s recommendations focus on ways to provide property tax relief by reducing local government expenses associated with employee pensions, health insurance and police and firefighter disability benefits. The report also identifies what the mayors say are necessary reforms to the prevailing wage and civil service laws that would help lower municipal infrastructure costs and provide public employers greater ability to manage their workforce so they can provide services more cost-effectively.  

“Only a property tax cap with mandate relief and necessary exclusions can provide relief to our taxpayers,” said Bossart. “Projected growth in pension and health insurance costs alone will exceed the 2 percent tax cap fivefold in its first two years.” 

According to NYCOM President Sam Teresi, the mayor of the City of Jamestown, the task force’s recommendations were sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature, and will be discussed during the upcoming legislative session.