At a meeting of Community Board 6 on Oct. 13, state Sen. Joe Addabbo, D-Forest Hills, told residents to expect some hard budget cuts in the next session of state government.

Hinting at upcoming cuts to health and education services, Addabbo said the trick within his district and within state government, is to know just how far to go when reducing a given budget item.

He asked residents to help him determine, over the last three months of his current term, what to do to help alleviate New York's still-massive budget gap.

"It has been a daunting task … making our government more efficient, cutting wasteful spending, but then you come to a point," he said. The stopping point, according to Addabbo, is the moment when his office phone rings and on the other end of the line are health officials and school principals urging him to cut from another source.

"People in my district, they spoke out loud. They didn't want a soda tax, they didn't want, obviously, a property tax increase," Addabbo said. "Many of them didn't want us to borrow money and I agree. "

Addabbo, who is facing a stiff reelection challenge in November from former city councilman Anthony Como, said that Albany had failed in its responsibility to govern over the last two years.

"For now we can no longer continue to pay for what we can't afford. For too long in Albany that's what was going on," Addabbo said. "So we had to cut, and we had to raise some fees."

Addabbo also used the time to justify some of the current cuts that Albany has made, including the decision not to send out STAR rebate checks.

Ultimately, he said, he is aware that every cut and every tax increase will be deeply felt, but that the state has no choice but to face up o its fiscal reality.

When it comes to taxes, he said, state lawmakers have to generate revenue that's going to affect the smallest number of people, and share the burden when necessary.

"The idea here is, you don't want to do revenue that's going to hurt people on an everyday basis," he said.