The Work Force Forget the spin — it’s about jobs! Property tax relief is more political deception There’s a lot more than meets the eye in the Cuomo administration’s election year “lower taxes” public relations spin. For starters, more of the same corporate welfare and tax giveaways will not create more jobs. In fact, they’ll lead to a loss of jobs. Don’t take my word for it — it’s the key finding of an extensive and reputable study done for the Governor’s Commission on Tax Reform and Fairness. (See story, page 3) Unfortunately, you won’t find much about that study in the commission’s recommendations. It was an inconvenient truth that didn’t fit with the political agenda. So instead, it got buried and we got a new commission chaired by former Gov. George Pataki and former state Comptroller Carl McCall to produce different findings. Oddly, there’s been almost no reporting of this in the mainstream media. When it comes to so-called property tax relief, there’s more political deception. Struggling communities across the state have seen no state help. We have also seen elimination of state services and jobs in every part of the state. This has further undermined local economies and contributed to the loss of more than 90,000 public service jobs in the past four years in a vicious circle. Add to the mix state corporate tax breaks at the expense of localities and the result is the economic disaster plaguing communities and stalling our recovery in nearly every part of the state. Now there’s a proposal for property tax relief. But only for communities that stay beneath their 2 percent property tax cap and meet some vague standard about consolidating services and merging with other localities — regardless of how unpopular that might be. How is this “relief” even remotely possible without cutting more services and putting more people out of work? CSEA members, like everyone else, want lower taxes but we sure don’t want more bad policy and political doubletalk that fails to truly solve problems, eliminates more jobs and increases people’s misery. CSEA Executive Statewide Officers President Danny Donohue in touch with Work Force ISSN 1522-1091 Official publication of CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO 143 Washington Ave. Albany, NY 12210-2303 Danny Donohue, President STEPHEN A. MADARASZ The Communications Director & Publisher LOU HMIELESKI Executive Editor JANICE GAVIN Associate Editor JANICE M. KUCSKAR Graphic Production Specialist BETH MCINTYRE Communications Assistant Vice President Mary E. Sullivan Secretary Denise Berkley Treasurer Joe McMullen CSEA Region Officers Long Island Region President Nick LaMorte 3 Garet Place Commack, N.Y. 11725 Metropolitan Region President Lester Crockett 125 Maiden Lane, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10038 Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo 569 State Route 52 Beacon, N.Y. 12508 Capital Region President Kathy Garrison 1 Lear Jet Lane, Suite #2 Latham, N.Y. 12110 Central Region President Colleen Wheaton 6595 Kirkville Road East Syracuse, N.Y. 13057 Western Region President Flo Tripi 120 Pineview Drive Amherst, N.Y. 14228 Communications Specialists Long Island Region: Rich Impagliazzo (631) 462-0030 Metropolitan Region: David Galarza (212) 406-2156 Southern Region: Jessica Ladlee (845) 831-1000 Capital Region: Therese Assalian (518) 785-4400 Central Region: Mark M.Kotzin (315) 433-0050 Western Region: Lynn Miller (716) 691-6555 Headquarters: Ed Molitor (518) 257-1272 Jill Asencio (518) 257-1276 UUE UnitedUnion Employees The Publications Committee Jerry Laricchiuta Janice Mason Robert Pazik Theresa Reagan Lee Reynolds Ed Russo The Work Force (USPS 0445-010) is published monthly by The CSEA Publication Office: 143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210. Periodical Mail Postage paid at Post Office, Albany, New York 12288, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: CSEA, Attn: Membership Department, 143 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12210 Readers: Send any comments, complaints, suggestions or ideas to: Publisher, The Work Force 143 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12210-2303 CSEA online: The CSEA website can be accessed at: www.cseany.org 4 The Work Force January 2014
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