I have spent years working on the challenges that face our cities. As secretary of housing and urban development under President Bill Clinton, I attended conferences, seminars, task forces and even prayer services on the fate of our metropolises.
The future of our fiscally distressed cities has been debated to death. There is one path forward: stop the year-to-year subsidies that mask the underlying problem and restructure these governments so they are economically viable. Stark but true.
The sheer number of local governments that exist — each with their own payrolls and expenses — is staggering. In New York, we have more than 10,500 governments including 62 counties, 61 cities, 932 towns, 553 villages, 698 school districts and thousands of fire, drainage, fire protection, park, garbage, sewer, water special districts.
That is why, as attorney general, I spearheaded the Citizen Empowerment Act to help local governments consolidate.
Upstate New York must adjust to a new economic and demographic reality. Population decline means fewer taxpayers, yet the size of government has gone up. Look at Buffalo, where from 2000 to 2010 the population declined by 10.7 percent, and government spending increased by over 30 percent.
The answer isn't to tax our remaining people more. We've tried that. The answer is to shrink the government.
Our property tax cap of 2 percent has made it harder to keep increasing property taxes and pushed local governments to accept economic responsibility.
That's a good thing!
Consolidation, mergers, shared services, reduced workforces, fewer elected officials are all powerful restructuring options. The state provides a model for the tough decisions that must be made: triple zero increases on labor contracts, reduced workforce through attrition, spending caps, structural budget reform, pension reform — all difficult choices, but necessary and effective. If local governments are ready to face their own reality, the state stands ready to help.
That is why I have proposed a financial restructuring group that includes the Division of Budget, the comptroller's office, the attorney general's office, and private specialists.
Local governments under financial distress — and under a formula — could come to the state task force for technical, legal and financial assistance in restructuring. The task force would work with the city to come up with a plan, which could include mutual assistance programs with surrounding governments, and state resources when and where appropriate.
The task force would have a secondary purpose of providing an alternative binding arbitration panel for police and fire unions whose negotiations with a financially distressed city have deadlocked. The binding arbitration law for police and fire unions will expire this June, and I do not intend to renew it without a deeper resolution.
A union's inability to come to contract terms with a fiscally distressed city is a symptom of the illness — fiscal distress — that we must resolve.
It would be voluntary for the local government or union to come before the state task force and to accept the plan. What's true in life is as true in government — you can't help a local government that doesn't want to help itself.
Politicians in general don't like to make tough choices. Hence, this problem has continued for decades. I also understand that the state's continued facilitation helps no one and hurts everyone. While the medicine may be tough to take, it is also the first step toward recovery.
There is no more need to talk about it. We know what needs to be done. The question is, do we have the political will to do it?
With the expiration of the current binding arbitration system, the time is now.
Andrew Cuomo is governor of New York.