Village of West Carthage

Mayor’s Office
61 High Street
Carthage, New York 13619-1326
315-493-2552 * 315-921-4008 (cell)
Scott M. Burto, Mayor

March 22, 2011

Senator Patty Ritchie

Dulles State Office Building, Room 418
Watertown, NY 13601

Dear Senator Ritchie,

I am writing today to express my concern over recent votes that have passed with your support.
After numerous failed attempts to contact you to provide you with a local governments aspect of
how your vote will directly affect your residents, I have resorted to writing you.

I fully support the idea and concept of a property tax cap provided that the cap is not done alone.
I also believe this was your stance throughout your campaign. You were quoted in an October
23, 2010 Post Standard interview stating that you supported a tax cap “but not by itself”.

On January 31, 2011 Senate Bill S. 2706 property tax cap, this stand alone bill passed the senate
with your support. I attempted several times to discuss this bill with you, without success, prior
to your vote but this bill was rushed through committee without any consideration to the effect
on the local municipalities. Over the next two years cities across New York State, including
Watertown and Ogdensburg will see a raise in healthcare and pension costs of approximately
$206 million compared to a $39 million increase in property tax levies allowed under a 2%
property tax cap. This effect will also be felt by school districts, counties, towns and villages
such as West Carthage.

Until we reform the cost drivers and mandates that have led to high property taxes, we will not
be able to continue to provide essential services under the 2% cap. Residents have made it
apparent they want essential services that municipalities provide but in a cost effective manner.
The New York State Senate should have consulted with the affected governments before passage
of a tax cap, another mandate on local municipalities, and address the existing mandates driving
up tax rates. Although you did address future mandates, nothing has been done to allow us, as
local leaders, to take steps at reducing the tax burden on local property owners.
Residents have expressed concern that they voted for change and reform in Albany last
November but are getting more of the same. This isn’t an issue of Republican or Democrat but
about doing what is right for your residents. The passage of Senate bill S 3331, a constitutional
amendment for redistricting does nothing but continue more of the same partisan politics
residents are sick of. In my opinion and much of the public’s, this amendment does nothing to
honor your pledge to be a Hero of Reform. Mayor Koch’s pledge was to support non-partisan
redistricting with the 2010 census and allow voters to choose who represents them in the 2012
elections. The Senate bill just pushes off the tough decisions until the 2020 census and allows the
elected officials to select who they represent until 2022.

That last thing I would like to do is express my support for the .75% sales tax extension
requested by Jefferson County. Your recent comments have caused concern across the county
about your lack of support for the extension. Failing to introduce and pass the extension would
only drive local property owners tax rates higher or cause the loss of services. Local
municipalities have made cuts and trimmed the portion of the budget not under mandates and use
this revenue to keep property tax levies down. Jefferson County is in a unique situation with a
large number of shoppers from Canada and a large number of exempt housing units on Fort
Drum. Sales tax allows local municipalities to use this revenue to help maintain highways and
infrastructure used daily by everyone but paid for mainly by the property owners. At 3.75%
Jefferson County still has one of the lowest sales tax rates in New York State and provides relief
to property owners with it sales tax sharing agreement with the city, towns and villages.

In closing, I want to commend you for your work on reinstating the funding for Agriculture and
the Tug Hill Commission. I hope that the Governor also sees the importance of both these
funding commitments. I also look forward to hearing how you are going to help local
governments provide Real Tax Relief by addressing existing mandates that are driving up costs
and seeing your support for the sales tax extension.

Sincerely,

Scott M. Burto
Mayor