The New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM), representing cities and villages across the Empire State, continued its statewide tour in Rochester, urging the Governor and the State Legislature to increase unrestricted aid to cities and villages for the first time in 15 years.
The tour’s primary focus is on the impact that Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) funding has on the state’s cities and villages. This funding has not increased in 15 years – directly affecting the ability of local governments to respond to the growing demands on public safety and other essential municipal services. The executive budget proposal calls for $715 million in funding. From the one-house budget bills, the Senate has proposed an increase of $210 million over the executive budget proposal, with the Assembly’s proposal calling for an increase of at least $100 million.
“These funds help us provide for public safety and essential services, such as safe roads, safe water and the infrastructure that makes that possible,” said Rochester Mayor Malik D. Evans. “We call on our state leaders to maintain their commitment to this important source of direct and unrestricted aid to cities and villages by increasing payments to reflect our rising costs.”
“As the collective voice for New York’s cities and villages, this tour showcases and highlights the very real challenges our members deal with daily through the lack of additional unrestricted state aid,” said Barbara J. Van Epps, NYCOM executive director. “Mayors share the same goals as our state leaders – to keep our communities safe and affordable – but we can’t do that on our own. We need an ongoing commitment from the state to be a partner in our efforts to break down the barriers to efficiency and community revitalization.”
“It’s vitally important to visit various parts of our state in order to drive home to our governor and the state legislature that increasing AIM funding is vitally important to our cities and villages, and ultimately our residents,” said Albany Mayor Kathy M. Sheehan, who serves as NYCOM President. “Cities, just like Rochester or Albany, deliver for our residents every day, and securing additional state aid will expand our efforts to enhance public safety and invest in our aging infrastructure.”
For more information about NYCOM, its mission, and its legislative priorities, visit http://nycom.org.
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