Once again, mandate relief was largely forgotten as part of the recently concluded state legislative session.

Things like freezing step increases when contracts expire; helping local governments control construction costs; providing portable pension benefits or beginning the long-needed switch to defined benefit pension plans and capping health insurance costs gained no traction in Albany. Such changes could have saved taxpayers hundreds on their tax bills. Schools, meanwhile, will spend another year dealing with the Gap Elimination Adjustment even while having to add to their budgets to pay for changes related to the state’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards.

Is it unfair that those unfunded mandates drive up the cost of local government and, by extension, the taxes you pay? Absolutely. Is mandate relief going to happen anytime soon? Absolutely not.

Knowing this, the conversation must shift from the state’s need to relieve local governments from unfunded mandates to what local governments and school districts can do to work through the unfunded mandates. Chautauqua County residents have firsthand knowledge of how hard it can be to implement any large shared service or municipal consolidation plans. For every step in the right direction – such as the Panama and Clymer school districts sharing three positions, including a superintendent, or Lakewood and Busti sharing a code enforcement officer – there are plans that fail with a resounding thud.

That doesn’t mean we should stop trying. We note, again, the example provided by the Panama and Clymer school districts. Officials in both small districts could have waited for mandate relief from the costs associated with teacher evaluations and implementing the Common Core State Standards. Instead, they have been proactive in sharing three positions. The cost savings have lessened the burden on taxpayers by freeing up some money to pay the new costs. Ripley and Chautauqua Lake officials saw the handwriting on the wall – both in terms of their budgets and the numbers of children in their classrooms – and worked through a tuitioning agreement that has helped both districts financially and educationally.

There was no major pronouncement or legislation from Albany that made these partnerships happen. What made these partnerships happen was the leadership of local residents who saw New York state isn’t riding in on a white horse to save the day with mandate relief or other legislation. That realization was coupled with the knowledge major cost savings aren’t likely in individual municipal or school budgets anymore because much of that type cutting has already happened. They realized if there is to be cost savings, it will come through shared positions, further shared services and the occasional merger and consolidation.

It is encouraging to see that leadership from County Executive Vince Horrigan, who is trying to get ahead of the game by figuring out what services are being shared by municipalities in the county now to identify where shared services can be found in the coming years.

County residents can no longer afford to wait for a silver bullet from Albany to cure our ills. Area residents must push their elected officials to create our own silver bullet.