Lawmakers poised to review Cuomo’s local government shared services plan

New York lawmakers want to know if a new state initiative aimed at reducing property taxes is working as intended.

A provision in the state budget directs local officials around the state to convene panels to study ways their counties, towns, cities and villages could save money by sharing services and consolidating programs.

The idea of the program, supported by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is to reduce the local tax burden by eliminating layers of bureaucracy and encouraging more efficiency.

Thirty-four counties have completed the process so far.

Ulster County’s Shared Services Panel, made up of municipal supervisors and mayors, in September endorsed the County-Wide Shared Services Tax Savings Plan devised by Ulster County Executive Michael Hein. The plan includes six projects that Hein said he expects will save taxpayers about $1.7 million. Savings predicted for four of the projects are predicated on the county receiving an anticipated $20 million grant from the state’s Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency competition.

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro last year submitted to the Dutchess County Legislature a County-Wide Shared Services Tax Savings Plan that features 35 projects that collectively were projected to provide over $25 million in taxpayer savings in 2018 and 2019.

On Tuesday a committee of the state Assembly will look at the results.

Earlier this month Cuomo announced $10 million in extra funding for 19 local governments that took steps to consolidate.