NYCOM Advocacy Update - Governor Hochul
Posted on: December 20, 2021 - 11:55am
Posted December 20, 2021
375 NYCOM Members Sign-on to Letter Urging Governor Hochul to Increase Municipal Aid in the 2022-23 Executive Budget.
In a matter of seven days, more than 375 city and village mayors answered our call. They signed on to NYCOM's letter to Governor Hochul requesting a $210 million increase in municipal aid in the 2022-23 Executive Budget.
The thirteen most recent state budgets have failed to increase AIM funding. While the Senate and Assembly have included AIM increases in numerous one-house budgets, then-Governor Cuomo was a barrier to including an aid increase in the adopted state budgets.
Now, circumstances have changed. With Governor Hochul, we have a leader who, as a former local official, understands the importance of local government and has stated her clear desire to support and work closely with municipalities. Furthermore, the pandemic has highlighted the critically important role cities and villages play -- in partnership with the state government -- in ensuring the public's health, safety, and welfare.
Therefore, NYCOM is urging Governor Hochul to continue the AIM program at its $715 million level and provide for a $210 million increase in municipal aid via a new program we call the "Municipal Investment Initiative." This program would include a straightforward formula that determines a municipality's aid allocation based on rational factors such as population, level of services provided, percentage of tax-exempt property, and poverty rate. We also ask that the governor end the state's irresponsible practice of intercepting a portion of local sales tax revenue to pay for the state's obligation to fund municipal aid.
Please follow-up with direct communication to Governor Kathy Hochul and Budget Director Robert Mujica (address for both: Executive Chamber, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224) urging the inclusion of increased municipal aid in the upcoming state budget. If your municipality's chief elected official and/or chief executive officer wants their name added to the sign-on letter, please email Lisa Earing at [email protected].