SHERBURNE – Upstate New York is outgunned by too many decision makers in Albany who hail from New York City, said Senator James L. Seward (R-Oneonta) yesterday, and taxpayers are already feeling the brunt of higher taxes as a result.

It’s been “a tough and challenging year” in Albany, he added.

Seward visited the Village of Sherburne Thursday night where about 50 people crowded the Sherburne Fire House to participate in his town hall-style meeting. It was one of several that the lawmaker has conducted throughout the state’s 51st district this month.

With Governor David Paterson, the Assembly speaker, the Senate majority leader, the state’s attorney general and the finance committee chair all from the metropolitan area, Seward said the policies set forth this year haven’t address upstate’s needs. He voted against the budget – one that imposes $8 billion in new fees and taxes – for the first time in his 22-year political career.

Legislation passed that would keep the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in operation is an example of these unfavorable policies, he said. The bill, which he called “a bailout of the MTA,” was successfully disputed by downstate school districts and will result in new taxes on upstate districts.