I would like to thank Gov. Cuomo for his continued attention to the economic distress of Upstate New York. Unfortunately, the joint State of the State and Budget Address was just the same failed strategy of politically picking winners and losers.

The governor noted that the largest burden to our state is property taxes. His claims that the state has no role in the high rate of property taxes are blatantly false. Counties have to pay 30 percent of the state’s Medicaid burden from their property tax levy. The 57 counties outside of New York City collect $2.2 billion annually from their property taxes and send this payment to the state for its share of the Medicaid program.

This year’s budget includes roughly $1.7 billion for property tax reduction, and a $1.5 billion upstate competition to revitalize the upstate economy. Unfortunately, these are simply gimmicks, not real solutions. The property tax reduction is not a true reduction; it is a subsidy to the governor’s political favorites. Only three regions will be the political winners of the Upstate revitalization competition.

In the past two years, two $1.5 billion tax rebate programs were created. The 2014 property tax freeze is one of these misnomers. It allows the local tax burden to increase only to be subsidized by the state in some instances. The 2013 rebate to families with school age children is the other.

The governor claims the money is not in the budget for the state to take over the Medicaid program. These four programs provide more than enough money for the state to take over Medicaid payments for the 57 counties outside of New York City. This is a more efficient use of taxpayer money that doesn’t require checks to be mailed or create the confusion of who qualifies for the program. Requiring a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the property tax levy, as the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) already has stated the counties are willing to do, would provide real relief from the property tax burden and ensure all the residents and businesses in New York would be winners.