The Governor has issued Executive Order No. 17, which establishes measures to evaluate costs of mandates on local governments to advance property tax relief.
"After reading the Executive Order, I am encouraged that something will finally get accomplished. I have fought consistently for a comprehensive property tax plan that will reduce the pressure that hardworking, middle-class families face every day just to pay their property taxes.
"However, I continue to believe that this effort must be undertaken in conjunction with broad reform measures in regard to the State budget process. It is not possible to achieve our long-standing goal of providing property tax relief to homeowners without addressing the secretive process that involves the passage of bloated and overspent State budgets. Many line items in the State budget involve some form of a program that is ultimately passed down for the county, town, city or village to enforce and/or support. We must take a serious look at program evaluation as part of the budget process and begin to make bipartisan progress in order to effectively achieve property tax relief.
"With that said, I'm hopeful that the Governor's Executive Order No. 17 will begin the process of creating mandate relief and expose the practice of burdening property taxpayers with unfunded mandates. The Executive Order is certainly a positive first step in the right direction, and I hope the Governor continues to demand that it be obeyed until relief is in sight."