The state Senate has a Democratic majority for the first time in close to a decade.
With the state Assembly and governor’s office also solidly blue, Long Islanders can expect a barrage of progressive legislation this year.
Possibilities include reforms to ethics, campaign finance and voting; laws to strengthen a woman’s right to choose; environmental protections; and new gun safety legislation.
What the state Legislature and local elected officials should also consider are ways to streamline the operations of government and attract investment.
If we continue on the same high tax path, residents will be forced to move to destinations with lower taxes, as evidenced by the slight drop in New York state population last year. With over 3,400 active local governments, over 4,200 taxing jurisdictions, some of which include Long Island municipalities, New York state should consider these revenue generating and expense saving suggestions:
1. Bond Refinancing — As late as 2016, New York state was the second most indebted state in the nation and according to the Empire Center, a non-partisan, non-profit think tank based in Albany, the per capita state debt is the highest in the country at $17,528. There is easy money to be saved by looking at every government entity in the state, and making sure any outstanding bonds (that can be refinanced) are refinanced immediately. The state comptroller recommends any current bond that has a net present value savings of at least 3 percent get refinanced. New York State legislation forcing every government entity to examine if their debt should be refinanced would be prudent. This is the lowest hanging fruit out there.
2. Foreclosure Registry — The Great Recession in 2008 uncovered how poorly banks kept track of homes in foreclosure. During the financial markets meltdown, when it came time for homeowners in dire straits to conduct a mortgage modification or short sale, many banks didn’t know which institutions were servicing their loans.
A few enterprising firms created a foreclosure registry to keep track of mortgage servicer providers and solve this problem. Municipalities with a foreclosure registry charge banks a semi-annual fee on homes in foreclosure, with the foreclosure registry company doing all the work and charging a fee for creating the registry.
As examples, the Village of East Hills (where I live) could generate $30,000 per year, and the Town of Hempstead (where I work) could receive $3 million a year or more, just by creating a foreclosure registry. These fees are borne by the banks as a cost of doing business and not passed on to the homeowner. On Long Island, the only two municipalities with active foreclosure registries are the Town and Village of Babylon.
3. Franchise Fee Audits — Altice and Verizon/Fios are the major cable companies on Long Island that pay municipalities a franchise fee of 5 percent of the total customer bills, for the right of way to use government property for their transmission lines.
Often, when municipal audits are conducted on the total franchise fee that should have been received, errors are found and refunds of up to several million dollars have been paid. There are a slew of companies who will conduct a franchise fee audit free of charge and are compensated out of the proceeds of any refund.
4. Energy Performance Contracts — There are huge savings in going green. Three areas of focus include: converting to L.E.D lighting; purchasing newer, more effective equipment to cut HVAC costs; and installing solar panels.
There are at least a dozen companies servicing Long Island municipalities that will conduct energy audits. Governments pay for these efficiency upgrades by bonding any capital projects, using savings in energy costs to pay for debt service on upgrades, while usually receiving an additional positive cash flow.
One creative idea the Town of Hempstead is considering is leasing out the land on top of the Oceanside landfill for at least $350,000 per year.
5. Frequently Rebid Contracts — Prices fluctuate dramatically from year to year. Through my work in government, I have seen service provider contracts extended for decades. The only beneficiary of a long-term service contract is the vendor.
All municipalities should go out for new bids, at least every three years, and make sure all bids are advertised not just in local newspapers and on their websites, but also on the New York State Contract Reporter (where all New York state bids are posted), to encourage as many bids as possible. All municipalities should give best efforts to obtain at least three bids for all contracts.
6. Stop Sign Cameras on School Buses — About 100 children are killed annually by drivers illegally passing school buses while they are picking up or dropping off children.
Several states already have laws enabling security cameras, with the ability to issues tickets by mail if a vehicle passes a school bus while a flashing stop sign is extended from the bus. New York state doesn’t allow stop sign moving violations cameras on school buses, but it should.
Proceeds from these tickets could go directly to the local school district where the traffic infraction occurs, which would lower school district budgets, increase student safety and save taxpayers money.
To quote my favorite HBO series, “Game of Thrones,” “winter is coming,” and so is an inevitable recession.
All municipalities must explore every possible avenue of efficiency. Once the SALT tax kicks in this April 15, New York state taxpayers are going to clamor for lower taxes, especially on the local level. The time to cut spending, increase savings and encourage investment is now.
