Following a shortage of paper tax forms readily available for New York state residents, including in St. Lawrence County, Sen. Joseph Griffo urged the New York State Department of Tax and Finance to immediately distribute more forms.

After a number of residents of Central New York contacted and visited Senator Griffo’s district office to complain that local libraries have been running out of the papers necessary to file their state taxes, Griffo called the Tax Department to express his disappointment and concern regarding the insufficient supply.

Many of the constituents in Griffo’s district do not have access to computers for online tax forms, and so they did not know where else to obtain the papers, he said.

“It’s tough enough that people have to spend their hard-earned money to pay excessive taxes in the first place, so we want to make sure they don’t have to go out of their way to track down the necessary paper forms,” said Senator Griffo, R-Rome. “I understand the purpose of going paperless and cutting costs in state government, but we must also avoid making it harder for citizens to obtain copies of any documents if that’s their desire.”

Representatives of the Tax Department acknowledged there had been an issue compounded by resources and clerical error, and indicated that they were going to correct the problem, Griffo said.

The State Department of Tax and Finance also provided the following number that the public, as well as local libraries, can call if they would like to request tax forms: 518-457-5431.