Smaller communities across Western New York are concerned with the state's latest budget. Governor Andrew Cuomo's new 2019-2020 budget proposal calls to remove $60 million worth of Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM) funding. Towns and villages whose AIM funding failed to make up two percent of their budget would have it removed completely.
“If we do not restore this money we will see towns and villages in our communities needing to raise taxes and cut services," says New York State Assemblymember Monica Wallace. “Which is why I intend to advocate very strongly that this funding needs to be restored in the 2019-2020 budget.” Monica Wallace.
The budget won't remove any funding from cities like Buffalo or New York. Towns like Cheektowaga are losing $820,898, Lancaster is losing more than $270,000 altogether, (see what your municipality may be losing in the attached screenshots above).
“They can’t take anymore form us, they’ve been chipping away at us for years. We have a governor that doesn’t like villages and towns and wants to blame them for all the tax wounds in New York State," says Lancaster Mayor William Schroeder. “It’s sad because the state government has a whole lot more money than we do.”
The AIM funds formerly allocated to villages and towns across the state were used for government expenses like infrastructure and salt for roads.
