Jul 1, 2009 7:37 pm US/Eastern
Senate Circus Causes Wallet Woes In Yonkers
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The seemingly never ending chaos in Albany means budget blues for cities and counties across New York. They can't nail down budgets until the state Senate gets its act together.
New York's fourth largest city, Yonkers, is running out of money. City Hall can't send out tax bills until its budget is certified, but that can't happen until the state Senate extends two taxes that bring Yonkers $15 million a year.
"We can't be held hostage as a city while they have a power struggle up in the Senate over control of that body," said Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone.
Amicone calls the chaos in Albany "disgraceful." State Senate inaction is compounding the budget crisis that forced Yonkers to cancel Fourth of July fireworks. The city now has just a couple million dollars cash on hand.
"That cash will runout before the 3rd week of July, and we literally would have no more money to run city government. We'd have to shut down," said Amicone.
Across the suburbs, governments can't nail down budgets until the Senate approves a host of items including mortgage and hotel occupancy taxes in Westchester. The list also includes a cell phone surcharge in Suffolk County; a cigarette tax in Nassau County; and a sales tax in Putnam County.
Westchester County Executive Andy Spano said he's shared his frustration with the three Democrats representing Westchester in the state Senate: Jeffrey Klein, Suzi Oppenheimer, and Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
"I've never seen anything like it. It is not appropriate for elected officials. What I've just said to you publicly, I've said to everyone privately," said Spano. "This whole situation is bizarre! On both sides of the aisle."
Spano and Amicone both think the crisis will drag on for a few more days before the two sides finally pass needed bills. They hope the chaos is the crisis that finally sparks real reform and brings real change to Albany.
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