By CRAIG FREILICH
North Country Now

POTSDAM -- The Town Council has added its voice to the chorus protesting Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed cuts to state aid for municipalities.

While the governor has appeared to be retreating from his plan in recent days, concern remains among community leaders that cuts to the state’s Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM) program, the Extreme Winter Recovery Program, shortfalls in expected road maintenance aid programs such as CHIPS and PAVENY, his desire to make the two percent property tax cap permanent, and the rising cost of mandates from state government that are not paid for with help from the state. All taken together, the Town of Potsdam resolution says, are too extreme, so the board wanted to make its consternation publicly known.

The program cuts were revealed in Cuomo’s proposal for the next state budget, which is supposed to be approved by April 1. The governor has complained that the gap between a budget and revenues to pay for it amounts to billions of dollars, and that ways to close the gap will be painful. But pushback from local governments in the North Country and elsewhere around the state who say they are being squeezed to the limit, echoed on their behalf by state Assembly and Senate representatives, appear to be having an effect on the governor’s thinking.

The Potsdam town board went on record at its meeting Tuesday night with unanimous approval of a resolution that “the Town of Potsdam joins its neighboring Towns and Villages to strongly oppose the elimination of AIM funding” which “could result in services, program cuts and layoffs,” and while the governor claims to be trying to cut costs “every dollar that the state shared is a dollar that doesn’t have to be levied on the backs of the taxpayers” in local government.

The cuts would be a small amount compared with the whole state budget, “yet would cut a significant amount of revenue to towns and villages across the state who have already allocated this money in their budgets” approved months ago, the resolution says.

Copies of the resolution are to be sent to the governor, state Assembly and Senate leadership and North Country representatives, and county legislators.