$20 Million to Innovate and Spur Local Government Consolidation
Competition Among $70 Million in Efforts to Encourage Local Government Efficiency and Taxpayer Savings
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition for local governments to build consortium’s and compete for a $20 million award. Under the program, teams of two or more local governments will submit plans demonstrating how government consolidations and innovative restructuring initiatives will yield reductions in property taxes. A panel selected by Secretary of State Rossana Rosado will pick the winning consortium and plan.
“Property taxes remain the most burdensome tax in New York and with this competition, we are incentivizing local governments to band together to think outside the box, streamline their bureaucracies, cut costs and deliver real relief to their taxpayers,” Governor Cuomo said. “As I’ve said multiple times, New York has no future as the high tax capital of the world and by encouraging innovation, we are taking one more step toward a stronger, more affordable Empire State for all.”
Secretary of State Rossana Rosado said, “The Department of State will work diligently to implement the Governor’s Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition to assist communities in reducing property taxes through consolidations, shared services and other modernizations. By helping local governments think outside of the box, these funds will produce bold and pioneering ways to deliver government services and operations in a more cost-effective manner.”
The Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition invites local government consortiums to design comprehensive, innovative plans to reduce bureaucracy, improve government efficiency and deliver taxpayer savings. These proposals will be measured against each other, seeking the most creative and innovative ways to stimulate the local economy and streamline municipal services and operations, culminating in a $20 million award. The awarded funds will support local actions to revolutionize and build a new model of local government services at the regional level for the 21st century. The competition builds upon the Governor’s commitment to lower property taxes for the residents of New York State.
The competition will be made up of two phases. The first phase will consist of interested local governments submitting an intent to propose form for a chance to become eligible for plan development funding. The second phase will provide the local governments the opportunity to submit a plan for consideration by June 2017 with a winner announced in August.
Further information on the Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition will be available at the Secretary of State’s Local Government Innovation Conference, being held on November 18th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Empire State Plaza, Concourse Level, Meeting Room 6, in Albany, NY. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to attend the conference to learn more about the application process. To register for this conference, email LGICRegistration@dos.ny.gov.
More information is available here.
