New York State Credit Unions Call on the Assembly to Support Municipal Deposit Choice

ALBANY, NY (04/09/2010)(readMedia)-- The Credit Union Association of New York, representing 451 New York credit unions and 4.4 million credit union members, and a coalition of local government groups are calling on the State Legislature to pass municipal deposit reform, allowing local government entities such as cities, towns, counties, school districts, fire districts and public libraries the option of depositing tax dollars in local credit unions or community savings banks. Currently, corporate banks have a monopoly on municipal tax deposits.

Credit union members will join local government leaders at the State Capitol on Monday for a three day government affairs advocacy conference, which will include legislative briefings, a press conference on Tuesday and visits to state legislators.

"We are asking the State Assembly to join the Governor and State Senate in supporting municipal deposit choice," said William J. Mellin, president/CEO of the Credit Union Association of New York. "This much-needed reform allows local governments, including schools and libraries, the freedom to deposit their taxpayer dollars in credit unions and community savings banks, as well as, large corporate banks. This will help local governments save revenue, encourage more funds to stay local through community reinvestment, and create more opportunities for local residents to take out personal or small business loans."

Mellin continued, "We're hoping that Speaker Silver and the Assembly -- all of whom represent local governments, districts with credit unions, and thousands of credit union members – will do the right thing and support municipal deposit choice in the final budget. In short, municipal deposit choice puts more public dollars back on Main Street."

Credit unions have the potential to help state and local officials in a way that doesn't cost state or local taxpayers a dime, but instead will save them money and increase the range of available financial options local governments desperately need. Allowing credit unions to accept municipal deposits will only strengthen the communities they serve by offering competition and an alternative to commercial banks.

While a majority of states including Connecticut and New Jersey allow municipal deposit choice, commercial banks in New York State currently hold a strict monopoly on such deposits.

"Credit unions are not only community-based and play a significant role in our local communities, we also pay property taxes to those very same local governments which would benefit from municipal deposit choice, namely municipalities, libraries, fire districts and public schools," said Mellin.

"Credit unions are not only 100% locally-owned, and do pay tens of millions in taxes including local property taxes, but as not-for-profit financial cooperatives we return all profits back to our members," continued Mellin. "Access to municipal deposits would allow credit unions to further reinvest in our local communities, via loans to local taxpayers and local small businesses, at a time when credit and borrowing opportunities are drying up for the very people and businesses who need it most."

The Credit Union Association of New York has served as the trade association for the state's credit unions for 93 years. New York credit unions have assets of more than $50 billion and 4.4 million members. To learn more about the Association, visit www.cuany.org.

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