New Priorities

Members of the ARCC chatted with former Governor Spitzer at Davidson's in the summer before his election about the skyrocketing health care costs facing our region's employers. This past fall, the ARCC hosted a meeting with Silda Wall Spitzer to talk with her about the "I Live New York" initiative and how our region is working to attract young professionals to the area. We've had no such meetings or opportunities in the past to chat with new Governor David Paterson so it's hard to know what to expect.

Here's what we hope he will do:
1. Continue to push for regional solutions and local government consolidation. This is particularly important for our region's infrastructure. A City of 14,000 people cannot afford to operate its own water system when it is facing astronomical capital costs and a declining customer base. The new Governor should make it a priority for the DEC to require communities facing significant capital expenditures to pursue regional solutions first and the DEC should provide financial incentives to reward such rational behavior as well.
2. Work with the Superintendent of Insurance to give him the authority to approve and reject health insurance rates. Right now, the insurers get to file and use whatever rates they believe they need with very little if any oversight. That's why we have rates increasing 17% in one year and more and more people going without health insurance in NY.
3. Continue to push for reforms to cap both property tax increases and increases in state spending as proposed by the Senate. The ARCC has consistently advocated at the local level for our governments to cap the annual increase in the property tax levy. Just last week, the Washington County Finance Committee passed a resolution that the ARCC supports to cap the 2009 increase in the property tax at 3%. The current 2009 budget projection calls for a 12% increase in the tax levy. 24 other states already have caps in place to control government spending and as a result to control the rate of growth in property taxes. This makes sense for NY too which already has the highest per capita taxes in the nation.
4. Cell service along the Northway must be established this year. This is an important public safety initiative and an economic one as well. If our region is going to lure Canadian tourists to our region, we best make sure that they feel safe traveling through the beautiful Adirondacks to get here. Today's travelers expect to have cell service everywhere they go in case of an emergency. This is an imperative.