Just a month ago, New York state adopted its 2009-10 spending plan. With it came tax increases of $8.5 billion to pay for $12 billion in new spending. For many New Yorkers there may be a faint sigh of relief that they at least don't have to worry about whether they will be faced with increased taxes or program cuts until a year from now. But is that really the case?

For roughly the first six months he was in office, Gov. David Paterson did an excellent job putting forth an early clarion call about the precarious fiscal state New York was in. Then he self-imploded politically and message-wise, in the six months leading up to last month's late budget. Having taken hit after hit over the last half year, he is back to the idea of warning New Yorkers that the state still has a fiscal crisis, even after he declared a $16.5 billion budget shortfall just before the budget was passed with mind-numbing spending and tax increases. He is now saying that New York still faces a $4 billion gap for the fiscal year that is just 30 days old.

Is that the case? It depends on who you talk to. Obviously those who approved the spending increases and tax hikes are not going to admit that they didn't do the right thing and left New York with a continuing fiscal crisis. There is no political percentage in suggesting that Albany needs to go back into session to make cuts (while some taxes and fees could be raised, some of Albany's options were likely eliminated in this area, for now, once the budget was adopted).

For those who didn't support the budget there is a political dynamic of whether to agree with Paterson's assessment now. Some are taking a wait and see approach, expecting Paterson to “prove” his thesis. With there likely being some level of budget crisis fatigue among voters, harping on a budget shortage now doesn't pay. Just as importantly, and not to be too cynical, but the more time that goes by without action, the more it will resonate with voters on the eve of when the Legislature is all up for re-election in 2010.

Still, no Democrat or Republican should look at the budget as a static document. If anything they should follow the idea put forth by the chair of the Senate's Budget and Tax Reform Select Committee, Liz Krueger, in an interview in last month's edition of The Capitol, who suggested that, “I don't think we're doing one budget this year, I think we're doing one every three months ... we're not going to be able to wait a year to reevaluate where the state is.”

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com