POUGHKEEPSIE – Top county officials from across the Hudson Valley called aspects of the newly adopted state budget “smoke and mirrors” during a discussion with business executives Thursday at the annual Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress Presidents’ Day Breakfast in Poughkeepsie.

The annual breakfast, which had been rescheduled in February due to the tragic death of Det. John Falcone, brought together the top officials from Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Westchester, and Ulster counties to engage in a public discussion about the future of development and the delivery of services throughout the region.

There is an understanding that the state budget must be balanced in the context of its relationship to the counties, towns, and villages, said Pattern President Jonathan Drapkin.

“If we don’t look at this as one entire system whereby instead of moving costs from one area to the other, in a period in which it is exceedingly unsustainable, people can’t afford to pay their property taxes,” he said. “The amount of revenues that are coming in are decreasing, state and federal funding is being reduced; it is the opportunity for us to look at this and say ‘how do we do things differently?”

Executive Director of the New York State Association of Counties Stephen Acquario explained that through the way state government is structured money from local taxes is used to fund state services.

When the state mandates that the counties must pick up the tab on various services, it destroys their autonomy and siphons significant dollar amounts out of the communities that need that money the most, he said.

Between the seven counties represented at conference, the collective yearly budget amount totals upwards of $5 billion, most of which leaves its respective municipality and goes to funding state services, said Acquario.

“We have to stabilize taxes, but in order to do that from a county level we have to control what’s called unfunded mandates,” he said.

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus was first to address the audience when he called parts of the new budget “smoke and mirrors” in regards to the fact that he believes the state cannot drive up these unfunded mandates while also imposing caps on taxes so that counties can’t raise additional revenue.

“We all have the same challenges which is the dictates of mandated spending that drive up property taxes,” he said. “We need the state senators, the governor, and the State of New York to finally enact reform.”

The other county officials echoed his remarks.

To put things into perspective, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef told the audience that they had just gotten their dessert, but the asparagus was yet to come.

Orange County Executive Edward Diana added that communities cannot change until government does and the way things are right now is completely unsustainable.