Assemblyman Christopher Friend (R,C,I – Big Flats), the Ranking Minority Member of the Local Governments Committee, is taking issue with Gov. Cuomo’s property tax proposal in his 2015 Executive Budget. Assemblyman Friend says the proposal doesn’t provide local governments with the necessary mandate relief from Albany or solve New York’s exceedingly high tax rate.

“The reason our property taxes are so high is because Albany literally passes the buck to our counties whenever they devise an idea they can’t figure out how to pay for,” Friend said. “The governor’s plan simply returns money the state wrongly took from residents in the first place without addressing the actual reason the government took that money. Until we can create a culture where Albany either finds a way to begin paying for their own projects or starts respecting our local governments, these kind of stop-gap measures proposed by the governor will prove ineffective in reducing the burden felt by local governments and our community.”

Friend is the sponsor of Assembly Bill 5384, which would require the state to reimburse local governments for any additional programs or increases in the level of service for an existing program. The bill has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee.