Senator Rachel May (SD-53) Urges Governor Cuomo to Fully Restore AIM Funding in Executive Budget

Syracuse, NY - Senator Rachel May (SD-53) continues to urge Governor Cuomo to reinstate Aid to Municipalities (AIM) funding in the Executive Budget. The towns and villages in Central New York rely on AIM to provide critical services to their community members.

Local governments in SD53 are facing a $1.17 million cut to funding from the state. Many of these towns and villages have already approved budgets for the year, meaning they will face a tremendous shortfall in revenue for services. The town of Salina is looking at a loss of more than $290,000; the town of Sullivan is losing more than $92,000; the town of Kirkland is losing $79,000. This loss of funding is not sustainable for our towns and villages and must be restored in full.

“I have spoken with leaders across my district -- town supervisors, school superintendents, county legislators and executives -- and all have expressed their deep concerns over this loss of funding to our local governments,” said Senator May. “I am fully committed to working with my colleagues to ensure that AIM funding is restored in the final 2019-2020 budget. Our residents in Central New York already bear a heavy tax burden and should not be expected to shoulder more. Even where AIM funding has represented a small percentage of total budgets, it often accounts for a much larger portion of the tax levy, so these cuts will result in significantly higher taxes or loss of services, or both. Our communities deserve better.”

The final budget must be approved by March 31st for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

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