Oct. 17, 2008

Setting the record straight

During our recent public appearances, my opponent has repeatedly distorted my positions on several issues, including taxes and energy. I want to set the record straight.

On Taxes
When I travel the 2,500 square miles of the district, working men and women tell me their biggest concerns -- today, right now -- are the high costs of living and health care. I fully recognize that property taxes are a big part of their concerns (especially farmers and rural residents where gas strikes are driving up property values). But the cost of food, gasoline, utilities, and prescription drugs, they tell me, are of immediate concern. That's why I believe that property taxes are just part of the problem. New Yorkers suffer from high income and sales taxes, and are paying more for everything these days.

First, let me clarify the property tax issue. When Chemung County, for example, is listed as having the ninth-highest property taxes in the nation, it's important to understand the basis of that statistic. It's a ratio of property taxes paid in relation to the value of a home. In Chemung County and elsewhere in the 53rd District, this ratio is high because property values, for the most part, have remained relatively flat for decades. The average home in Elmira, for example, is about $65,000. Taxes on that property are about $2,400 a year. However, the combined cost of mortgage payments (on a typical 30-year loan) and taxes is less than $750. That's why Elmira in 2007 was named one of the most affordable metropolitan housing markets in the nation.

Also, the Southern Tier (and all of New York) continues to lose population. As a result, fewer people are paying for police, fire protection and other local services at the same time that their homes are not increasing in value. Finally, state revenue sharing -- money flowing from state coffers from income and sales taxes to cities, villages and towns -- has been cut by the state legislature for years. The trend reversed two years ago, but cities like Hornell, Corning, Ithaca and Elmira barely receive in 2008 the state aid they got in 1990.

The result is a shift of the tax burden to local property tax payers. I believe we need to reform New York's tax system to take the burden off property tax payers. New York has an antiquated tax system that overburdens property owners (residential and commercial), provides easy tax breaks for developers that don't need them (such as Wal-Mart), and ignores how services are actually delivered and paid for.

Tax exemptions in place for seniors, veterans, hospitals, government, churches, and others are part of the tax code. I am not calling for ending these exemptions. I have, however, used a discussion of exemptions to underscore the patchwork of tax regulation that needs to be simplified.

Finally, on the proposed School Property Tax Cap (which I oppose in its current form), I have been quite vocal about the need to relieve schools of costly state mandates and the need to help wean schools from unchecked spending. Schools get about 75 percent of their funding from the state; cities and villages get about 25 percent of theirs from the state. A local property tax cap not only would not guarantee lower spending, it would likely merely shift school costs from the left pocket -- property taxes -- to the right pocket -- income and sales taxes.

Schools are struggling, of that there is no doubt. Statewide graduation rates are at about 65 percent. But I don't trust Albany lawmakers, who have driven up an $8 billion state budget deficit, to be more concerned about my local schools than the school board members elected locally. A tax cap, as proposed, would strip citizens of their right under the state constitution to govern themselves.

On energy
Since the start of my campaign, I have strongly advocated for all kinds of new, clean energy -- including wind, non-corn based ethanol, clean coal- and natural-gas fired plants. New York has not sited a new plant since 2002 (and no new plants have been built in some time). To me, high energy costs in New York are a function of supply and demand. We need new supplies.

I strongly support ethanol production, but not production based on food crops, such as corn. Corn, in fact, returns just 25 percent more energy than is put in to make ethanol. Switchgrass ethanol returns 540 percent more energy than the energy used to produce it.

Why no food crops for ethanol? Because the lack of a unified energy policy that places corn at its center creates havoc in the food markets. When New York farmers were planting earlier this year, corn was about $17 a bushel. Today, it's about $7. The volatile marketplace pits energy producers against food producers, hurting farmers most of all.

I am strongly in favor of alterative, green, and renewable energy. I find the new windmills in Cohocton to be marvels of modern engineering, beauty and practicality. I strongly support wind energy and I believe the Southern Tier can be a pioneer in New York wind energy production.

At the same time, I also believe in protecting the environment and individual property rights to ensure individuals are given a fair shake by energy developers, regardless of whether their land is used for windmills or gas exploration. The landowners deserve their fair share, and don't deserve to be bullied into long-term deals that shortchange them.

Sadly, my opponent, as a private attorney, represents NYSEG against his constituents (visit New York State Supreme Court Web site and do a search to confirm this yourself). His firm also has represented Fortuna Energy, one of the primary gas exploration companies now tapping into lucrative Marcellus Shale formations. He also has collected thousands for his campaigns from utility companies and their PACs.

I believe this type of non-government work by my opponent, though legal in New York, is unethical because it places personal fortune ahead of constituents' needs. I will never compromise the position of state senator this way.