Stop the Tax Shift

As you may have noticed, there is a new "Stop the Tax Shift" button on the home page of the Village's website . This post is from the website of Stop the Tax Shift: "The State Legislature returned to Albany on November 18th for a special session to address the state's looming fiscal crisis. While it was expected that they, together with the Governor, would develop a plan to significantly reduce state spending in both the current year and in 2009-10, the leaders were unable to reach agreement on any gap-closing actions. In the meantime, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos announced that the Senate will return to Albany on December 15th to take action on the Senate's own plan to address the state's deficit. According to the Majority Leader, this plan will include "significant spending reductions, recurring saving actions and important initiatives to maximize revenues." The Senate's return will occur one day before the Governor will introduce his 2009-10 Executive Budget, which he hopes the Legislature will pass by early March. While the outcomes of these upcoming events remain to be seen, the deficit reduction initiatives proposed by the Governor in mid-November - including a current year and 2009-10 decrease in AIM funding for 33 cities, a current year reduction of $41 million in New York City's AIM amount, and a 50% reduction in VLT Impact Aid - are on hold, at least for now. This lull in the action provides the perfect opportunity to remind our state leaders that they cannot balance the state budget at the expense of local governments and their taxpayers. Use the "Take Action" button on the Stop the Tax Shift website to quickly and easily send a message to your State Legislators and the media. Be part of the effort to Stop the Tax Shift!"