Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli and 15th District Chemung County Legislator Rodney J. Strange are asking residents to join them in the fight for mandate relief by contacting state representatives in Albany urging them to enact meaningful mandate relief.
Chemung County is taking part in the New York State Association of Counties’ (NYSAC) “Help Enact Mandate Relief Today” initiative and is asking residents to become involved as well. NYSAC has set up a website which allows residents to contact their state representative’s via email with a form letter urging them to include mandate relief in the 2012-2013 state budget.
“The recent passage of the pension reform bill was a good start but won’t provide immediate savings to the County,” said Santulli. “We need action on the other eight state unfunded mandates which currently consume the entire Chemung County property tax levy as well as 23% of our sales tax revenue. We need to have our voices heard in Albany; that we can no longer continue to fund these programs and the time for change is now,” Santulli said. Legislator Strange added: “Mandate relief needs to be a top priority for New York state leaders. We need them to understand the affect these unfunded mandates have on local government. If these mandates were removed, we could eliminate the county property tax here in Chemung County,” Strange said.
A link to the website is posted on the County’s website, www.chemungcounty.com