go through each agency, cut all perks to upper management, housing, vehicles, fuel, food, etc… Also, cut unnecessary travel between DOCS and other unnecessary medical trips. charge co-pays for medical in detention centers. reappeal the Rockefeller laws and release non violent inmates from prison to alternatives to incarceration. Do not plea bargain down from violent crimes with weapons and portray smoke and mirrors. re-evaluate sentencing restructuring.. the list goes on and on…

I’ve lived in NYS all my life and moved from NYC to Suffolk county 26 years ago. Property taxes have increased disproportionately to middle class income. I’m a small business owner and the cost of doing business in NYS has become so high, looking at other states is becoming attractive. School district consolidation would reduce the redundancy we have and eliminate administrative positions without reducing the number of actual teachers. Patronage or political appointments need to be eliminated. I’m trying to avoid layoffs within my business but there may be no choice.

Consolidate departments! 65,000+ households are double-taxed on libraries due to overlapping districts. Assembly bills 3714, 3820 & 3816 would remedy this but Assembly & Senate can’t seem to move them anywhere. The SED of course doesn’t want to consolidate and loosen its grip on their empire while we pay twice for a service that one tax already provides; full access to any library!

Increase tobacco taxes again… the cost of tobacco related disease costs ALL New Yorkers, not just those that use tobacco! Tax spit tobacco more! Kids are starting to use this more and more because they can get it easier because it is cheaper! MOST IMPORTANTLY keep funding for programs that prove a return on investment for taxpayers such as the NYS tobacco control program that proves it effectiveness and saves New Yorkers money and lives and most importantly keeps kids from starting smoking, which in turn saves even more money! Collect the taxes from tobacco that was sold and is being sold to non-native Americans. New Yorkers are getting ripped off by not collecting these taxes!

Dear Governor Paterson,

The regional shares for education state aid were frozen years ago when Long Island had 13% of the population.
Long Island School Districts now educate 17% of the state population but still only get 13% of the regional shares.
When will this inequity be rectified so Long Islanders are no longer burdened with subsidizing upstate and New York City school districts?

Why are you pushing a 4% tax cap when voters passed 93% of the school district budgets last year? It is obvious that the people of the state view education as a top priority.

taxpayer/ homeowner

I do not know what ahould be done. I do know that I am hanging by a thread. I wish someone would help me.

Here is a list of items to consider when trying to find ways to cut the tax burden of New York State and it’s residents. 1) Go to a line item budget that prioritizes and puts the “luxuries” at the end of the list of expenses. 2) Stop spending so much money on sports and related projects like stadiums. They are great, but the players should get much smaller salaries and then the teams could afford to build their own facilities. 3) Reduce the amount of money being given to facilities that provide services to people with special needs. I feel we are obligated as civilized and caring people to help those of us in need through no fault of thier own, but the homes and services are now beyond that which a hard working person can give their own families. We spend just too much for “education” of people who really are at their maximum capacity for academics. Let’s teach life skills and job training that is practical–matched to a person’s potential. It is just too costly to have homes or schools staffed at a ratio of one to one. 4) Stop the state funding for projects such as demolition of the Mid-Town Plaza in Rochester. Corporations need to figure out how to balance their own budgets without taxpayers dollars stipends. 5) Begin to reduce and eliminate rent control for apts and condos in NYCity and especially stop those who are using them for offices and at home businesses. 6) Force via legislation or incentives, consolidation of neighboring small towns and cities to reduce government jobs and need for government funds to help those communities that are struggling while their neighbors are living in comfort from taxes collected on biger homes and more successful businesses. 7) Stop the practice of government employeees retiring at such young age and/or with so few years in gov. service. Reduce the amount of benefits given to those on “welfare” or any form of state funded assistance unless the person WORKS. I see many people fully employed who have a tigter financial situation than someone getting free lunch, WIC, SSI, Housing Assistance, Food Stamps, Child Health Plus, etc. There seems to be no incentive to work,keep your family size small,live a health lifestyle, and be frugal. 9) Offer college funding for students to go to State and Community Schools, rather than the Private colleges that cost far beyond what is needed to get a good education. They are a luxury that wastes taxpayers dollars when we have limited funds. 10) Mandate schools to reduce the amount of money they spend on administrators. There are many many more ways to reduce school costs if you can overcome the teacher’s unions. They do not police themselves when it comes to incompitent teachers and raises just for putting in another year. 11) Tax luxuries more and reduce taxes on purchases of necessity. example: raises tax on boats, second homes, luxury cars, snowmobiles, etc. 12) Stop giving unemployment benefits year after year to the same people. Some cases are seasonal work and others deliberately don’t work hard or consistently so they end up unemployed often. 13) Require ALL properties to pay taxes, eliminating ANY tax exempt status!!! and that means churches, government building, colleges, non-profit, and all businesses!! That would really increase revinue and also would possibly allow a reduction in the homeowner’s property taxes. 14) Stop all benefits to illegal alliens. 15) Do find ways to reduce the salaries of CEO’s!!!! Those salaries end up raising the cost of goods and services to the taxpayers who are working hard and feel so frustrated. Thank you for seeking ideas from the residents of New York State. I welcome more brainstorming of ideas on how to live within our financial limitations, balancing needs, wants, obligations and self gratification, personal opinion and collective agreement, ideal and real.

Please remember that education is not just K-12. Many, many NYers benefit from the community college & SUNY education systems. The budget crisis has the potential to devastate this level of education as well. As families come to realize that they cannot afford or are no longer willing to pay for private universities, let’s hope that SUNY and the community colleges are still in place & functioning. The Governor spoke of looking long term - let’s make sure that as people are displaced from some job sectors that the state university system is poised to assist, re-educate and retrain …. our long term future depends on it.

I listened with interest to Governor Paterson last evening and was very much impressed with his answers. He is on target with getting our budget reduced. And while I believe we will all feel the pinch, I also believe it is extremely necessary and our own fault we are in this mess. We are an extremely wasteful nation. Its time we looked at ourselves. Its also true that in many areas there is no accountability, such as school districts that waste our monies. We also feel the need to help others. But are we overdoing it? No all, but many people out there use the system. Do they really need all the help they ask for? Or can they help themselves? I am glad that Governor Paterson did not deter from the enormous task ahead of him which is to cut expenses. Its about time we become accountable and stop wasting our resources.

Knowledge in realtime accessible yet private and secure is essential to key our resources to their best use. Current information dictates we pursue a plant based whole food diet, use renewable energy sources decentralized as possible, promote community well being, and a healthy environment. Tax and funding policy promoting these policies will save money in health, public safety, energy costs, and education. Essential government roles in providing information, fair market places and safety may largely be done with low cost current computer and network technology.

The State should look at people that are on public asssistance. There are thousands of people who are on public assistance that are perfectly able to work but are to lazy to do so. I am in favor of public assistance for those that are in need. However the people who don’t have day care expenses and are perfectly healthy should not be getting welfare or WIC assistance.
Also, workmans compensation fraud amongst state employees. Expand the workmans Comp fraud investigation unit and start cracking down on the people abusing it. State employees are milking the state out of millions of dollars in claims. These people can be seen working on homes, second jobs, out in public,etc. There are more answers to solving the States fiscal crisis rather than placing the burden on State employees such as the survey on this web-site suggested.

How about taxing Millionaires?

Sharon says it best in comment # 10 ” Get rid of waste first.” In my letter to the Governor dated Sept. 8, I proposed getting rid of (at the municipal, town, county and state level) the useless, senseless and wasteful practice of roadside or highway mowing. That would eliminate the cost for fuel, equipment, maintenance, labor and transportation of the equipment (tractors and mowers). It’s a big state with thousands of miles of major roads, especially interstate highways. I measured one small piece of this “right of way”; exit 39 on route 87 at Cumberland Head corners. It’s over 12 acres. Some “roadsides” are cut back over 200 feet. This is clearly not highway maintenance. Take a ride on the Thruway or down to Binghamton on route 88 and see how grossly overblown this practice has become. A total for the entire state would be hundreds of square miles. For the Nation, many thousands of square miles. This practice violates environmental laws involving pollution, erosion and destruction of natural habitat. Many state facilities mow large fields or meadows for no good reason. Millions can be saved by ceasing these practices along with other benefits to ALL NYS residents. Plowing and sanding/salting; YES !! mowing; NO !!!