Molinaro visits Town Board, talk spans many topics

NORTH EAST — State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro visited the Town Board on Thursday, April 14, before its regular business meeting, to talk about legislative matters in Albany. He’s been going from town to town to talk about issues concerning New Yorkers — especially those living in Dutchess County.He started out by praising lawmakers for adopting a fiscal plan on time, something that’s not been done in nearly three decades.“This is the first time since ’83 that we’ve been able to adopt a budget a day early,” he said. “It’s amazing.”He then went on to say the state still has to address a $10 million shortfall. Molinaro said the budget deficit that has accumulated during the past 10 to 15 years is an obvious problem, and the fact the state spent an increase of 70 percent is in “no way sustainable.”“There’s a downfall of state revenue and the budget is attempting to address that,” the assemblyman said, adding that cuts in health care and education are ways in which Albany has attempted to do so.Molinaro added there have been other “slight reductions,” including to Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPs) funding, which goes to municipalities. He estimated those cuts were in the range of 2 percent. Likewise, he said there’s been about a 2 percent reduction on spending, which he described as “not a big deal.”The lawmaker spoke about other big issues in Albany that are of concern for municipalities like North East — a property tax cap and an ethics reform bill. He said there are mandates for items like health care and pension costs (among the largest growing components in the budget), which Molinaro said have support statewide and locally. “To slow the property tax cap is a blunt instrument,” he added. “If we’re going to slow spending, we’ve got to control the property tax, and you’ve got to drive down costs — that’s where you get pinched. If you take pension costs out … growth in other costs could be accommodated with a 2 percent property tax cap.”Town Supervisor Dave Sherman chimed in with his thoughts, saying that it’s difficult to curb costs when expenses, like fuel, “are through the roof.” Those big ticket items affect municipalities in a big way, Sherman said. Molinaro said there are options, like using the state’s purchasing power to drive down energy bills for municipalities. One of the keys is to show transparency when showing taxpayers where their dollars are going.But he acknowledged there’s a definite dichotomy — while the government works to be transparent it also operates behind closed doors much of the time. “This is what I know about Albany — there’s the proposal we all know about and then late at night they’ll go someplace … and then a new bill will make it to the floor,” Molinaro said. “I know many of my colleagues, they would like to give the governor a property tax cap. My guess is that late at night we’ll have a new piece of legislation.”Millerton attorney and local resident Robert Trotta then raised the subject of the federal revenue sharing program, which eventually evolved into the Community Development Block Grant program. The county awards block grants to municipalities based on a priority list.“Block grants depend on the skill of the people making the applications,” Trotta said. “Not so much,” Molinaro countered. “You have to have low to moderate income, so you don’t have to be terribly good at the application process, but you have to have projects that meet the standards.”Sherman said the town of North East has not been in the running for the past few years.Trotta then changed the subject and asked for an update on the state’s progress regarding spinal cord injury research. The assemblyman said he would get Trotta the details. Trotta is on a state board regarding spinal cord injury research; his son was severely injured following an accident many years ago.“Marc [Molinaro] has been very helpful in keeping our program alive,” Trotta said before going into more detail. “Five dollars is collected for every moving traffic violation and it goes into a fund to find a cure for spinal cord injury.”Councilman Dave McGhee then asked Molinaro a question that was surely on many people’s minds.“Are you going to run for county executive?” he asked, following reports that Molinaro is seeking the position that will be vacated by current Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus next year.“That’s exactly the thing I wasn’t supposed to talk about,” the politician replied. (Earlier he officially announced his candidacy.)“I’ll go out on a limb,” McGhee said. “I’m supporting you for county executive.”Trotta then spoke again, this time about future funds.“Are there any funds coming down the pike for infrastructure?” he asked. “We’ve got a major problem with the lack of a sewer.”“It depends,” Molinaro said. “The federal dollar still exists. There’s the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Any way in which you finance water and sewer in New York state is very difficult. The ability to leverage federal dollars is there, but you need a local commitment.”