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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Governor Paterson has already withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in payments that local officials were counting on.<\/p>\n
The state’s deficit is expected to continue growing next year to more than 8 billion dollars.<\/p>\n
New York’s Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, issued a report this year warning that school districts statewide could face a 2 billion dollar funding shortfall.<\/p>\n
Because our region relies so heavily on subsidies and investment from Albany, our communities are more vulnerable than most.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n