News Release

Mayor Reacts to Passage of State Budget 3/31/2011

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OLEAN – March 31, 2011 – Mayor Linda Witte welcomed the news from Albany Wednesday that the state budget has passed containing some provisions that are hopeful for the city of Olean.

“I am happy the budget passed without a proposed two percent tax cap,” said Mayor Witte, pointing to a bulletin she received from the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM) and an announcement made Thursday morning by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

She said she has urged the Governor and state representatives to drop the idea of Property Tax Cap legislation without first addressing methods to decrease the burden of unfunded mandates. She said that capping taxes would have resulted in a loss of services local governments provide to the public.

“I am glad that AIM funding for local governments was not eliminated, and I am also pleased to see that CHIPS will stay in place,” she said, referring to NYCOM’s report.

The report summarizes agreements for AIM Funding and Transportation Aid: “Similar to what was proposed by the Governor, the 2011-12 Budget eliminates AIM funding for New York City and reduces AIM payments to other local governments by 2% of their 2010-11 levels… The 2011-12 Budget will fund CHIPS and Marchiselli aid at current year levels of $363 million and $39.7 million, respectively.”

Mayor Witte also expressed relief that the state’s EPIC program will receive increased funding to continue assistance to seniors who depend on prescription drugs, while the plan also contains incentives for local government consolidation and shared services. But she said is will look for continued evidence that the new budget will not shift any additional funding mandates to the localities.

The NYCOM report outlines some local government consolidation and efficiency incentives totaling $79 million, with other provisions to provide funds to local governments that can demonstrate shared services, regionalization, efficiencies or performance improvements. Also, some communities will receive offsets for costs in hosting video lottery gaming operations.