Senate Circus Entertains No One: Local needs put on hold as constituents struggle

For many across the state and in the Saratoga region, the reaction to what has unfolded in their Senate has been the cause of much concern, frustration, and even outright anger. 

"The feeling among my constituents is frustration and disgust," County Supervisor for Saratoga Springs Joanne Yepsen said. "We elect our representatives to work for the people, not their own power grabs."

Yepsen certainly isn't the only government official in Saratoga County expressing her disgust over the Senatorial games. Joe Dalton, President of Saratoga County Chamber Offices voiced his dissatisfaction, saying, "The show that's going on in the legislature at the present time is really a disservice to the voters of the state of New York, and casting a bad light on the state as a whole. It throws everything into turmoil." 

Executive Director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, Ron Deutsch, explained that while the Senators are mired in inaction and disorganization, the real losers of the battle are the county and municipality governments, as well as the people of this state. 

"You've got a lot of senators that were elected by the people of this state to serve the people of this state, but unfortunately the people's business is not being done. I think there's enough blame to go around for all parties, Republicans and Democrats. They look like children in a school yard fighting with each other." He added, "I understand that they need to have this fight over who's in charge, but the governor called an extraordinary session, and they should be able to put their differences aside and work it out."

Easier said than done. After two extraordinary sessions were called by Governor David Paterson to try and push through essential legislation, both sides refused to give ground. On Wednesday afternoon, after a second failed attempt to reach a resolution, Paterson announced that either the Senators were to come to a mutual agreement and get back to business, or he would produce a court order to force the procedure, employing the help of New York State Troopers if necessary. 

Much of the above has been plastered over the headlines and shouted from TV broadcasts for weeks. But what is perhaps lesser known is how the crisis in the Senate is affecting our own local governments at the county and municipality level. 

"I think it's affecting all of the localities in the state that have legislation that they've asked their assemblymen or their senators to advance, given appropriate deliberations," Paul Sausville, Supervisor for the Town of Malta said. "In some cases we didn't even get bill numbers on some of our bills until just a few days ago because of the disorganization that exists in the legislature. And it was just recently that they told us that the bills we had advanced weren't going to be considered this year. It's not only problematic for a small town like Malta, but for every town and municipal jurisdiction in New York State." 

Sausville is right when he says he and the Town of Malta aren't the only ones feeling the fallout from the legislative stalemate. Due in large part to the deadlock in the Senate, many essential and otherwise routine pieces of legislation have come up against a brick wall. Legislation such as Malta's Park Land Alienation Provision (which would give the town the power to sell a historic building on Collamer Park land to the private sector, allowing a new owner to maintain the building's integrity, take on the costs of upkeep, and put the structure back on the tax role) has been left to hang.

"It means we lost a whole year," Sausville said. "We'll have to wait another year to take action on these things."

For Ron Deutsch, a critical piece of legislation regarding property tax, aimed to help those paying 20, 30, or 40 percent of their income towards property taxes, has become a casualty in the Senate's war games. 

"Groups around New York State have been working to try and get some kind of property tax relief mechanism put in place to help people who are overburdened by their property taxes. Given the fact that we have record unemployment, county treasurers are reporting higher tax delinquencies at the local levels and foreclosures have been on the rise, this would be an economic recovery tool, if you will, to prevent people from being thrown out of their homes because they couldn't afford to pay their property taxes. We thought we were on track to get something like that passed, but this power struggle has pushed that to the side," Deutsch said. 

At the county level, Supervisor Yepsen of Saratoga has also seen the effects of the Senate's infighting, and announced that, "Saratoga County has had to delay a public hearing and some resolutions because of the inability for our Senators to take action."

But the biggest concern for Joe Dalton is the lack of deliberation taking place throughout all levels of government, resulting from the confusion in the State Senate.

"When we don't have specific answers to specific questions, we're in a state of limbo, and we'll have to make decisions on the run as opposed to in a logical manner. In the power struggle the decisions that should be made are being delayed, and it's not only costing the state money; it's forcing entities across the state to make decisions in their planning process that will have to be made in haste, not thought out well in advance," Dalton said. 

Perhaps the one area where Saratoga County is faring better than many others is when it comes to the region's sales tax legislation. 

"A number of counties throughout the state have raised their sales tax beyond the three percent statutory level. When that has happened, the legislature has traditionally approved [an extension] with a sunset provision," David Wickerham, the Saratoga County Administrator said. "We're fortunate that we're one of six counties that have not raised our sales taxes beyond the statutory limit. But out of 62 counties in the state, that means 56 of them are at risk." Wickerham added, "Of course, I'm sure the populace will be happy with that at first because tax will go down by a penny from eight percent to seven percent. But since the budgets are built on the basis of sales tax and property tax, losses in sales tax tend to get made up with the property tax, which would be much worse. It's a really critical issue for a lot of counties, but fortunately we're not one of them." 

When it comes to finding a solution to a disorganized Senate desperately in need of some order, Wickerham is hopeful. 

"It's not that difficult to find a way to negotiate power when you're evenly split. It's been done in lots of states; it's been done in lots of counties."

Still, others are not as optimistic.

"I've smashed my crystal ball to bits, so I've given up making predictions," Deutsch said, "because in Albany anything can change on an hourly basis."