Center Moriches Taxpayers Community Discussion Forum

Calling Long Island the "epicenter" of costly layers of local government, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Thursday unveiled his bill to reduce property taxes by simplifying the process of streamlining government.

"New York's governments are too big, too many, too expensive, and it's gone on for too long," Cuomo told a group at the Long Island Association in Melville.

Cuomo's office has counted at least 10,521 local governments in the state - something both state and local officials have blamed for New York having the highest property tax burden in the nation. Despite years of studies linking high taxes to overlapping governments, nothing has changed, he said.

But with the Wall Street downturn, New York has reached "a crisis" and "must reduce its overhead," he said.

Flanked by seven state legislators just two days after legislative leaders in Albany said they supported the proposal, Cuomo detailed his plan to simplify the process of consolidating towns, villages and special districts.

Currently, a Byzantine patchwork of laws makes it virtually impossible to consolidate local governments. Under the proposed bill, there would be three avenues: a county executive could create a master plan, a local governing board could start the process, or residents could mount a petition drive. For the first time, citizens who collected enough signatures could get the issue directly on the ballot and would not have to rely on a vote of the local governing board.

In each case, the issue would be subject to a public vote and hearings. If the local government fails to act on referendum results, residents could seek a court-appointed mediator or hearing officer to complete the process.

The reform could have a profound impact on public policy, said former Chief Deputy County Executive Paul Sabatino, an attorney representing Gordon Heights residents seeking to dissolve their fire district because of high taxes.

"I think this could do for consolidation of special districts and other local governments what the Freedom of Information Law did for openness in government," he said.

The bill does not mandate consolidation. "It simplifies the process, but it's not so onerous that people have to do something," said state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), the only senator among the state legislators at the meeting.

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy both support the bill.

Cuomo cited studies that said reducing governments could cut taxes by 5 to 22 percent.

Cuomo has said he developed the proposal after investigating pension abuses and wasteful spending in special districts reported in Newsday. Thursday, he and others predicted it would be enacted into law.