There was no good news at the Common Council Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday. City treasurer Heather Campbell, who had been projecting a revenue shortfall of between $1.3 and $1.9 million, has now raised her "best case" projection to $1.4 million. She also reported that the fund balance is currently $2,748,452.
Council president Tom DePietro spoke of the plan to replenish the fund balance by selling property owned by the City of Hudson. So far, in public meetings, he has mentioned the house beside the Churchtown Reservoir, Hudson's water source, and vacant land north of Charles Williams Park and east of the landfill as properties that could respectively be sold or developed as a solar farm. Speaking on Tuesday of the eighty-one properties owned by the City, DePietro said, "We could sell enough to replenish the fund balance."
Campbell cautioned that selling property would be a one time solution and predicted that the City's financial problems as a consequence of the pandemic could continue into 2024. She also reminded DePietro, "We have not made a budget that did not tap into the fund balance for fifteen years." The fund balance is typically used to help keep the rate of increase in property taxes to a minimum.
Committee member Rebecca Wolff (First Ward), who as minority leader also sits on the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), asked about the PILOT request from the hotel proposed for 620 Union Street. "It doesn't require an expenditure from us," DePietro told her. Campbell added, "It wouldn't, because of the increase in sales tax and lodging tax."
It was thought that the plan to handle the revenue shortfall might be a topic of discussion when the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA), made up of the mayor, the treasurer, and the Common Council president, met the next day. Instead, with only DePietro and Campbell in attendance, the focus was on next year's budget. The proposed 2021 budgets have been received from all the departments except the treasurer's office and the mayor's office, and the process for determining the budget is ready to begin. The steps for doing so were outlined at Wednesday's meeting of the BEA:
- Meetings with department heads to review proposed budgets
- Reviewing all nondepartmental expenses
- Reviewing revenues
- Reviewing budgets without department heads to find cuts
This is unconscionable: the Council dithers, the mayor doesn't even bother to show. Meanwhile, the City's fiscal health is, as reported by the treasurer, in a very precarious position and one expected to last for years.
ReplyDeleteOn what basis do the council members, the mayor and his staff of 6 or so ethically take their salaries? One of alderman from each ward should resign and the president and the mayor should take voluntary pay cuts. If not to help the city financially, then out of a sense of shame.
What would that save 30k?
DeleteIn direct salary on the council side, yes. But the carry cost of an employee is approximately 45%. Then there’re all the salaries in the mayor’s office. We can save $100k easily. That’s how you save money — by cutting expenses. A bit here, a bit there. Or you can just write a check to the City if it’s such small potatoes. All your neighbors will appreciate it.
DeleteConversely, you can waste a ton of money by just doling out cash in the form of grants for political patronage. 15k here, 14k there. But it'll make things nice when we have people come visit.
DeleteDoes the mayor really have a staff of 6? I thought him having just one feckless aide was absurd. A staff of 6 is insane!
DeleteOne assistant and 5 lawyers.
DeleteHudson is doomed to fail of nothing than its own stupidity.
ReplyDeleteHow about we start with Rob Perry's $100,000 salary and bring it down at least 20% to a somewhat reasonable level? A DPW superintendent without an engineering degree in this tiny town making that much? It was never appropriate or justified, and even more so now. And the dude is NEVER in his City Hall office or anywhere to be found. Who decided that he should make/take that much money? It's insulting.
ReplyDeleteSuperintendent of DPW is a civil service position and, as such, the salary is somewhat set in stone. The position used to require a PE license but that requirement was done away with at the instigation of then-mayor Scalera who determined he could buy competence (hire an engineer).
DeleteI heard that Perry was an alderman, got the city to do away with the engineering degree requirement (amend the code?), then presto, he became the first superintendent without a degree and with a super salary. Scalera and Perry are old Hudson boys, pals no doubt.
Delete"Set in stone" by whom? City? State?
Just to be clear about the history here, "bb." The city code was amended to eliminate an engineering degree as a requirement for the job of superintendent of public works by Local Law No. 7 of 2007. Rob Perry was not on the Common Council at that time, although he had been elected the previous month as Common Council president and would take that office in January 2008. Rick Scalera was not the mayor in 2007, although he too had been elected the previous month. Rob Perry did not resign his position as Council president to take the job as DPW superintendent until December 2008.
DeleteSo certain council members want to stop STRs that contribute to the lodging tax and by-proxy massive amounts of sales tax in Hudson because they think that no STRs mean more affordable housing during a pandemic BUT want to rush the completion of a hotel to scramble for lodging tax dollars in the FUTURE? Meanwhile the city is paying for a staff at the youth department that had no business operating in the summer or even now. What about those cuts? I hope that come November 2021 we have a new council under a new council president that can read a balance sheet. Vote them out.
ReplyDeleteWhy did the Youth Department have no business operating? What's the argument?
DeleteNow, in the midst of a pandemic, is the time to reevaluate everything and eliminate waste. I have to agree with Mr. Friedman, why does the city need two alderpersons for each ward? What are they actually doing anyway besides collecting a paycheck? One alderperson could easily do the job. Now is the perfect time to restucture. And why is the city paying so many lawyers? What a waste. One city lawyer is all that a city should need. Stop wasting everyone's money. People actually worked to make the money that is being spent, it is not just numbers on a page, or in a budget.
ReplyDeleteReducing the number of alderpersons per ward would take a change to the city charter, which requires a referendum. It's not changeable tomorrow.
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