Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Mother of All Lawsuits...
Jim Ostrowski is a lawyer, writer and founder and President of Free Buffalo (Free New York, Inc.).
For more information, visit Jim Ostrowski's blog.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
County Legislator Larry Tanoury, Jr. writes...
OTB Revenue Sharing - Blog Entry
Tonight was a very interesting committee meeting. The County Executive proposed a local law repealing the local law from 1983 which made the county share OTB revenues with the municipality it is in.
In this case, the city of Utica will lose over $35,000, Rome over $30,000, New Hartford over $20,000, Deerfield/Marcy over $20,000, etc.
For the rest of the story, please read Larry's webpage.
Wonder if the County Legislators from New Hartford have anything to say.
James M. D'Onofrio, R-15
Majority Leader
P.O. Box 29
Utica, NY 13503
Home: 315-792-7721
Bus: 315-732-5106
Email: jdonofrio@ocgov.net
Chad Davis, D-18
25 Utica Street
Clinton, NY 13323
Home: 315-853-4037
Bus: 315-732-0324
Email: cdavis1@ocgov.net
Michael D. Damsky, R-14
2113 Genesee Street
Utica, NY 13501
Home: 315-732-1836
Bus: 315-724-2676
Email: mdamsky@ocgov.net
Brian D. Miller, R-16
9195 Red Hill Road
New Hartford, NY 13413
Home: 315-737-7550
Email: bmiller@ocgov.net
Tonight was a very interesting committee meeting. The County Executive proposed a local law repealing the local law from 1983 which made the county share OTB revenues with the municipality it is in.
In this case, the city of Utica will lose over $35,000, Rome over $30,000, New Hartford over $20,000, Deerfield/Marcy over $20,000, etc.
For the rest of the story, please read Larry's webpage.
Wonder if the County Legislators from New Hartford have anything to say.
James M. D'Onofrio, R-15
Majority Leader
P.O. Box 29
Utica, NY 13503
Home: 315-792-7721
Bus: 315-732-5106
Email: jdonofrio@ocgov.net
Chad Davis, D-18
25 Utica Street
Clinton, NY 13323
Home: 315-853-4037
Bus: 315-732-0324
Email: cdavis1@ocgov.net
Michael D. Damsky, R-14
2113 Genesee Street
Utica, NY 13501
Home: 315-732-1836
Bus: 315-724-2676
Email: mdamsky@ocgov.net
Brian D. Miller, R-16
9195 Red Hill Road
New Hartford, NY 13413
Home: 315-737-7550
Email: bmiller@ocgov.net
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Stormwater Meeting tonight...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at the New Hartford Library 5:30 p.m.
Meeting is open to the public.
Next town board meeting on Wednesday, November 19, 2008. Agenda now available online!
Meeting is open to the public.
Next town board meeting on Wednesday, November 19, 2008. Agenda now available online!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
November 12 Public Hearing cancelled...
At the November 5, 2008 Town Board meeting, the Town Board passed a resolution to cancel the November 12, 2008 Public Hearing that was scheduled to amend the Town of New Hartford Code by adding chapter 117 entitled "Water Service Local Law". The reason given was to address the Sitrin Home institutional water rate.
We have a copy of the law as it was initially proposed. As soon as the changes regarding the Sitrin Home have been made and a new Public Hearing is scheduled, we will post the information on our blog.
We have a copy of the law as it was initially proposed. As soon as the changes regarding the Sitrin Home have been made and a new Public Hearing is scheduled, we will post the information on our blog.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Town Board Meeting Tonight...
November 5, 2008 at 6 p.m. in Butler Hall. Agenda is now available online.
Also, tonight at the start of the Town Board meeting is a Public Hearing on the 2009 Preliminary Budget. A few changes have been made to the budget since the 2009 Tentative Budget was made available in October. The $155,000 for the new roof at the Rec Center was cut out. Instead, they will probably just sell another Bond Anticipation Note to pay for that. The paving was lowered from $400,000 to $200,000, but the Highway expense doesn't impact the tax rate.
However, it is interesting to note that the tax rate was lowered from the projected $2.53 per thousand first reported to $2.19 per thousand of assessed value for the Preliminary Budget. Funny thing is the total budget is actually more now than it was for the Tentative Budget that was available in October. How did they raise the total budget and lower the tax rate? They merely used more of the fund balance to offset the expenses.
Viola! Total total budget is up...tax rate is down!
Here is a copy of the 2009 Preliminary Budget to be discussed tonight.
We also FOILed a copy of the 2007 Audited Financial Statement. Another year of an adverse opinion. But not to worry, corrective action was taken at the August 13, 2008 town board meeting. The town board, upon the advice of Frank Basile, voted to retain Industrial Appraisal Services for $8,655 and Armory Associates, LLC for $6,500 to bring the Town in Compliance with GASB 34 and 45. That along with yearly updates at an additional cost, plus the $100,000+ that the town pays Frank Basile should make for an unqualified opinion for the 2008 Audited Financial Statement.
How do they do it?
Also, tonight at the start of the Town Board meeting is a Public Hearing on the 2009 Preliminary Budget. A few changes have been made to the budget since the 2009 Tentative Budget was made available in October. The $155,000 for the new roof at the Rec Center was cut out. Instead, they will probably just sell another Bond Anticipation Note to pay for that. The paving was lowered from $400,000 to $200,000, but the Highway expense doesn't impact the tax rate.
However, it is interesting to note that the tax rate was lowered from the projected $2.53 per thousand first reported to $2.19 per thousand of assessed value for the Preliminary Budget. Funny thing is the total budget is actually more now than it was for the Tentative Budget that was available in October. How did they raise the total budget and lower the tax rate? They merely used more of the fund balance to offset the expenses.
Tentative Budget Summary Sheet released in October 2008:So they really didn't cut any expenses; if necessary they will just use more "unrestricted funds", i.e. cash on hand, money left over from previous budgets, money market accounts, and Fees in Lieu of Mitigation monies.
$14,791,740 Tax Rate $ 2.53
Preliminary Budget Summary Sheet released in November 2008:
$14,965,503 Tax Rate $ 2.19
Viola! Total total budget is up...tax rate is down!
Here is a copy of the 2009 Preliminary Budget to be discussed tonight.
We also FOILed a copy of the 2007 Audited Financial Statement. Another year of an adverse opinion. But not to worry, corrective action was taken at the August 13, 2008 town board meeting. The town board, upon the advice of Frank Basile, voted to retain Industrial Appraisal Services for $8,655 and Armory Associates, LLC for $6,500 to bring the Town in Compliance with GASB 34 and 45. That along with yearly updates at an additional cost, plus the $100,000+ that the town pays Frank Basile should make for an unqualified opinion for the 2008 Audited Financial Statement.
How do they do it?
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