A special meeting of the Common Council has been scheduled for Friday, June 6, at 6:00 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to pass a resolution requesting that the state legislature renew the enabling legislation for Hudson's lodging tax.
The legislation authorizing the City of Hudson to impose a lodging tax was passed in the final hours of the legislative session in 2016, and it was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo at the last possible moment on November 28, 2016. The authorization needs to be renewed every two years, and Hudson's authorization expires at the end of 2025. The enabling legislation needs to be passed in the state Assembly and Senate before the legislative session ends on June 17. Anything to be considered by the legislature must be submitted before June 12, hence the urgency and the need for a special meeting.
As Gossips understands it, reminding the Council of the need to renew and preparing the necessary resolution used to be handled by Michael Hofmann, when he was mayor's aide. It seems the responsibility may have passed to Michelle Tullo, the Housing Justice Director. This would make sense because the person hired to monitor compliance with the lodging tax reports to Tullo, and there has been talk of funneling a percentage of the revenue from the lodging tax into the Housing Trust Fund. Whoever was responsible, it seems the need to do this in a timely fashion fell through the cracks. Gossips sources report it was a phone call from Assemblymember Didi Barrett's office to Councilmember Margaret Morris (First Ward) that set things in motion for scheduling the special meeting, in order to get the issue before the state legislature to meet the June 12 deadline.
The meeting on Friday is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Unfortunately, the meeting has not yet been added to the city calendar, so the link to join the meeting remotely is not yet available.
COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK
Update: The special meeting has now been added to the city calendar. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
So Tom and Kamal have time to pass all these non-resident resolutions about issues in other countries, and random rent control resolutions with little to no immediate impact in Hudson...
ReplyDeleteBut then forgets to do basic very predictable things that only they can do for the City of Hudson to generate revenue.
Got it.
Margaret Morris would never have to call for special meetings to do non special things.
This is pure nonfeasance, plain and simple. It's surely a sad state of affairs when the City -- through its elected leaders -- passes a budget overly-dependent on a tax revenue stream and then nearly permits it to lapse due to their allergy to actual work. Given that the "actual work" is really done by counsel, this abject managerial failure is even more laughable (or cry-able, dealer's choice). Nor is the need to file the home rule legislation (that's what it's called) a mystery: this same pair of Keystone Kops had to see it handled 2 years ago and 2 years before that. What I want to know is, which one is the schlemiel and which is the schlimazel? Where's Danny DeVito when you need him!
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, on what basis is either Kamal or Tom running for re-election? Surely not on their individual or collective record of achievement.