Hudson Valley leaders cautiously upbeat about Cuomo budget

Hudson Valley leaders expressed both support and skepticism regarding Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's speech on the New York State budget Tuesday, saying the governor had called for bold measures to help municipalities and schools balance their budgets but withholding final judgment until they learn more about the specifics.

Officials applauded Cuomo's unexpected proposals to help local governments fund pensions and negotiate with labor -- reforms that are likely to run into union opposition. But they also said it was unclear how the governor would finalize those politically risky ideas in negotiations with lawmakers, who must approve the budget by April 1.

"The rhetoric is compelling, but the devil is in the details," said Assemb. Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh).

Unions aren't likely to accept Cuomo's proposals. The state president of the Civil Service Employee Association, Danny Donohue, issued a statement calling the governor's pension proposal a "bait-and-switch scheme" that allows local governments to save money on little more than the promise of smaller pension payments in the future.

"This approach would put political expedience before fiscal responsibility," Donohue said.

In a $136.5 billion budget that increases spending by less than 2 percent without raising taxes, the popular Democratic governor proposed a raft of measures to help local officials cope with state rules on spending. The rules mandate that local governments and school districts provide various services, while providing no funding for those services and capping property tax increases at 2 percent, barring a vote by residents to exceed the cap.

Hudson Valley county executives, mayors and school superintendents often have criticized the governor for pushing "unfunded mandates."

Cuomo defended his policies -- particularly the tax cap -- saying that when he took office two years ago, he saw a need to change the "tax reality" of New York State. Governments at all levels were raising taxes before curbing costs, he said.

"Tax reality was recognizing that the current trajectory of state taxation had to stop," he said. "You were chasing businesses out of the state and chasing people out of the state. The taxpayer's pocket is not a bottomless piggy bank."

Claiming he was responding to local leaders' complaints, the governor called for changes in binding arbitration laws that would limit wage increases for public employees to 2 percent if local officials can demonstrate they can't pay for higher raises.

"One of the most common complaints for municipalities is the process of binding arbitration," the governor said.

Yorktown Supervisor Michael Grace, a Republican, agreed.

"Reforming binding arbitration and cutting away the paperwork and red tape of state government will save taxpayers money and allow Yorktown to become more efficient," Grace said.

Cuomo also said he wanted to allow municipalities and school districts to lower their pension payments in the near future while increasing payments in the more distant future, when payments likely will drop because of other changes to the pension system that were enacted in 2012.

"It basically provides a financial plan to get the municipalities through this pension bubble, which is what we are really experiencing," he said.

In his speech, Cuomo said Yonkers would save $21 million if the proposed changes are approved, or 4.7 percent of the city's budget. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, a Democrat, welcomed the idea.

"We have to analyze the proposals Gov. Cuomo made today, but clearly they are a major step in the right direction, especially the proposed pension relief, and the reform of the arbitration law to consider the public's ability to pay in determining raises," Spano said in a statement.

Other measures that would affect the Hudson Valley included the closure of the Beacon Correctional Facility, a nonsecure correctional facility in Orange County, appropriating $2 billion to harden energy infrastructure against future catastrophic events like superstorm Sandy and spending $1.2 billion to repair water treatment plants, including Hudson River plants that spewed sludge into the river during Sandy.

Cuomo's proposed budget now goes to the Legislature, where lawmakers will debate it for the next two months.

"The continued discussion of mandate relief is really important," said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), who leads the state Senate's Democratic minority. "As always, the details have to be looked at. We will begin that process starting today."