Ernest Strada, mayor of the Village of Westbury, and Thomas Savino, village clerk, traveled recently to Albany with other village officials from the Nassau County Village Officials Association (NCVOA) to attend the annual legislative meeting sponsored by the New York Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM). The NCVOA is comprised of 64 incorporated villages in Nassau County, representing nearly 450,000 residents.

There, they joined municipal officials from across New York State in a series of discussions geared toward prioritizing state legislative issues that affect villages.

According to Strada, who also serves as a member of NYCOM's executive committee, the main priority of the NCVOA for the upcoming year continues to be the restoration of state revenue sharing to 1989 levels. "Once again, we will be working on behalf of village residents by urging our state representatives to amend the state constitution and restore revenue sharing to the levels established in 1989-90," he said. The NCVOA supports a phased-in return to Section 54 of the State Finance Law, requiring that 8 percent of state tax receipts go directly to state revenue sharing.

"The state has to stop the inquitable practice of shifting its financial responsibilities to local government," said Strada. "Village government is the most efficient and most cost-effective provider of basic services to residents. We need our local legislators to make the state accountable for its actions by recognizing the unfair burdens they are placing on local municipalities and making the changes necessary to restore the partnership in government that once existed."

Strada added that other issues of high priority include:

* Prohibit Unfunded State Mandates - This would prohibit state enactment of mandates on local municipalities unless funding was provided

* Repeal of the Wicks Law - This would allow local governments the option to use the single contract method on public projects costing in excess of $50,000

* Growth in CHIPS Funding

* PILOT Payments on State-owned Land

* Adoption of New State Building Code

* Tort Reform

* State Telecommunications Legislation

* Drinking Water Protection