Two Articles of Interest

The two articles in today's Register-Star are "must-reads" for local taxpayers.

The first, by Francesca Olsen, has to do with mileage reimbursements paid to county supervisors for driving their cars to meetings at 401 State Street: "Supes mileage cost $17K in 2010." Greenport supervisor Ed Nabozny is the only supervisor who qualified for reimbursement but did not claim it. Gossips commends and concurs with his reason for not claiming it, as quoted in the article: “'I get paid from the county for my supervisor position,' he said. 'So I don’t feel the need to put in mileage. I don’t put in mileage at the town level either—never have. I don’t see personally putting in for mileage. I get a salary.'”

The second article, by Andrew Amelinckx, reports on the status of contract negotiations between the Hudson City School District and the Hudson Teachers' Association: "Teacher's union, district at impasse." HCSD had proposed that the union accept a salary freeze for 2011-2012, but, even with the possibility of a 12.6 percent increase in the tax levy to support a $41.6 million school budget, the union rejected a salary freeze, proposing instead that its members "lend" money to the district to help out in this economic crisis. Union members would agree to have from one to ten days' salary deducted in 2011-2012, which they would be able to cash in at a later date at their rate of pay at the time of the cash-in. A letter from HCSD Superintendent of Schools Jack Howe and BOE President Emil Meister rejecting the proposal states in part: "This proposal effectively would result in the District acting as a 'bank' for the teachers, allowing them to defer compensation for a period of time, resulting in the teacher receiving an annual return of up to approximately 40%."