Update on Special Districts reform

In Monday's (6/2/08) post I discussed the special districts reforms touted by former Gov. Spitzer in February. I was concerned that these reforms worth millions of dollars in tax savings for Long Islanders had been lost in the gubernatorial shuffle. However, it turns out that we have no one to blame but ourselves.

In today's Newsday an editorial in the opinion pages addressed the lack of action on special districts reform (See Newsday, 6/6/08 LI delegation should step up - Reform bills are withering in Albany, and there's no excuse for that). It turns out that Long Island’s flat-footed state legislators have done nothing about it. Yes folks, the very people that we elected to promote our interests in Albany have dropped the ball on an easy fix that would save us some money. Not one of Long Island's 30 legislators (21 Assembly 9 Senate) has bothered to sponsor any reform bills at all. Without sponsorship, these reforms will die along with any hope of property tax relief.

What happened to Special Districts Reform?

On February 8, 2008, the all but forgotten former Governor Eliot Spitzer, announced special district reforms proposed by the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness. The recommendations included ending pay for special district commissioners and encouraging town control of sanitation districts, as part of a larger package of initiatives to promote greater efficiency by local governments in delivering public services.

These reforms would save millions of dollars for the tax payers on Long Island. The press release stated that

“Long Island is unique in that it has a greater number of special districts than other areas of the state. Many of these districts overlap and dramatically increase the tax burden of residents. Nassau and Suffolk counties have a combined 340 special districts, which annually levy $271.3 million and $169.5 million, respectively, in property taxes. The average special district tax levy for other counties in the state is $7.7 million.”

Even though Spitzer is gone, we cannot let these recommendations fall to the wayside. We need to get back on track to making sure that these reforms are implemented. Do you really care who runs your sanitation or water district? As long as you could get the same service for less money, why should it matter? We do not need all of these fiefdoms costing 20+ times as much as it costs to provide these services in other counties. Period.