Top 10 stories of 2009, Part Two: the state budget implosion

I know, this one feels kind of wonky and abstract. It’s not as sexy as the hotblooded political races, or as patently devastating as the closure of the Crown Point bridge.

But the relentless collapse of state revenues to the New York state treasury may be the biggest thing that happened this year to North Country communities.

A fuse has been lit on what could prove to be a wholesale change to the way state taxpayer dollars are funneled to local governments and school districts.

Governor Paterson has already withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in payments that local officials were counting on.

The state’s deficit is expected to continue growing next year to more than 8 billion dollars.

New York’s Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, issued a report this year warning that school districts statewide could face a 2 billion dollar funding shortfall.

Because our region relies so heavily on subsidies and investment from Albany, our communities are more vulnerable than most.

The Federal stimulus package meant that most of the pain was deferred. But all the experts I’ve interviewed this year suggest that we face a painful realignment of taxpayer-supported services and jobs.

To get a sense for how these cuts will affect our neighbors, check out this piece reported by Jonathan Brown and Martha Foley.