By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Governor Pataki is not supporting efforts by Democrats in the State Assembly that would require Erie County to share a portion of the revenue generated by the eighth penny of the sales tax with other municipalities.
Assembly Democrats say before they grant permission to extend the eighth penny for this year, they want a commitment from the county to share some of it with other municipalities staring in 2007. But the Governor disagrees with that.
During a recent appearance in Lancaster, Pataki said sharing the tax is a local issue that should not involve the state. He said if the county is seeking state permission to extend the tax for another year, the State Legislature should act on that, and not tie conditions to it.
"I don't think we should do anything that will undercut county finances as the control board works to get them back on a sound footing," Pataki said. "By the way, I have proposed again this year a significant aid increase to the city of Buffalo through our AIM program. It would, over a two year period, provide a 25 percent increase to cities such as Buffalo."
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he agrees the situation should be resolved locally. But he says he'll defer to the wishes of local Assembly representatives.
"Any tax bill of that nature would come as a home rule message from the County Legislature. We can't pass a bill that doesn't have a home rule message. Ultimately, the local representatives in the Assembly will have to decide whether they're in sync with the local representatives," Silver said.
County officials have said in recent days that they're prepared to start talking about sharing revenue from the eighth penny. But they say they need the extension passed now to prevent yet another massive fiscal meltdown in county government.