CHENANGO COUNTY - New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that he would be cutting aid and incentives for municipalities (AIM) funding to 12 cities by 20 percent in order to save the state more than $70 million, in addition to the cuts his office made last year.

While Chenango County and its municipalities aren’t scheduled to receive any additional losses, county Deputy Treasurer John Williams explained that the county will have to spend approximately $360k to cover continued cuts from last year.

“This represents another unfunded mandate, and in this case expense, passed down from the governor's office,” said Williams. “They hit us two different times a year now, once for the villages and again for the towns.”

He said last December approximately $258,000 was paid to towns by the county. He added that sales tax is split with towns reducing the cost, but it remains a concern especially as costs grow.

“The state has enacted online sales tax, and I believe they thought that would cover the difference, but we haven’t seen that here,” Williams said. “In May of this year we got hit for another $66,000 and another round comes out in December.”

According to Williams, New York State legislature has allowed towns like Preston and Oxford to keep their AIM funding if it represents two percent or more of their budgets. He said last year AIM cuts cost Chenango County around $258k, by the end of 2020, it will be an additional $360k.

“I don’t know how the state comes up with these numbers, and it’s been difficult to get up to date reports,” he added. “The bottom line is it's another state mandate that we have to cover, and he keeps pushing these down the line without thinking of the consequences.”

Senator Fred Akshar spoke on cuts to AIM funding, focusing on the most recent ones that Cuomo announced on Tuesday.

“Governor Cuomo cut essential funding to 12 cities by 20 percent in order to save the state $74 million,” stated Akshar on social media. “That's $74 million gone that would have went toward firefighters, police, sanitation workers and infrastructure, yet $420 million in tax credits to millionaire Hollywood producers, $27 million in tax dollars for free tuition for undocumented and illegal immigrants and $100 million in tax dollars to fund political campaigns remain untouched.”

“This tells you exactly where the priorities are for New York's One Party Rule.”

Akshar said he won’t stand by waiting for communities he represents to be next on the chopping block.

“That’s why I authored legislation to create the Coronavirus Business Interruption and Municipal Recovery Program,” he said. “My proposal directs the state to utilize a public authority like the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to provide assistance to local municipalities and businesses to help cover the unprecedented financial hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic, similar to the state's efforts in the aftermaths of other natural disaster events like the Irene and Lee floods of 2011 and the 2017 flooding on Lake Ontario.”

“These are extraordinary circumstances, and One Party Rule needs to treat the taxpayers that feed the Albany machine better than it treats millionaire Hollywood producers, undocumented and illegal immigrants and political cronies.”