Despite all the efforts to cut expenses, property taxes will be going up. It is not entirely clear what the increase will be, but it appears it may be the maximum allowed by the state. Although the cap is 2 percent, an arcane formula allows increases, in certain circumstances, to exceed 2 percent. In our case, that formula allows the maximum increase to be 3.9 percent.
The proposed budget must be presented to the Common Council by the mayor by November 11. Since November 11 is a holiday (Veterans Day/Armistice Day), a special meeting of the Common Council to receive the budget has been scheduled to take place on Monday, November 10, at 5:00 p.m., before the Council's informal meeting.
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Someone call up the State Comptroller and tell them to update that stress test.
ReplyDeleteDoes mayor Johnson still want Rich Volo to resign? Well, thankfully the voters decided who should stay and who should go.
A maximum tax increase and an empty reserve balance are fitting parting gifts from Tom & Kamal to the people of Hudson.
We will be writing more about this in our next briefing tomorrow...
DeleteFor now...
- Michelle Tullo's Comprehensive Plan Survey with expensive Manhattan consultants, which is not statistically significant and cannot be used... was $225k.
- Kamal and Michelle's salary together, could cover half of the deficit. They did not work for the entire City over the last 2 years.
- The Oakland Park grant match is over $100k... it was not budgeted.... a single $75 Article 78 would pause that entire development due to errors in ministerial duty, for years.
- Why is the cemetery ~$400k per year?Should that be privatized or a different landscaping technique used to save money.
Caitie, if you plan to run for office in the next cycle why not start a real 501c3 that takes care of the cemetery grounds and saves City Hall money. That would be a good record to run on. Like Peter Frank's successful and transparent Friends of Hudson Youth, but for the cemetery?
- The Youth Center wanted to add 2 full-time jobs... they still have 6, all unionized.
Just a few years ago the entire Youth Center, with double the youth, ran on one full-time and one part time role. Nick Zachos' legacy was to grow that budget and turn it into a political hot potato...
(Nick likes it when we mention him and his legacy of division and budget overruns, every few weeks. Happy to oblige, there is much in the historical record of his public service in Hudson.)
The outstanding and unpaid parking tickets could cover this deficit.
The delinquent property taxes that Kamal refuses to collect could cover this shortfall.
Instead of taking all of these reasonable and fair actions.... Kamal and Tom would rather go over budget, run the City's cash balance close to the ground, and "borrow" from the future, and future generations.
Stunning negligence.
Did the City of Hudson pay for Kamal's plane ticket to go hob-nob in CA? We shall FOIL it and report back.
Stunning negligence sums IT up…
DeleteClearly, I was under an errant belief that a proposed budget is always initially at least on paper balanced. It's very easy to achieve by fudging projected revenue.
ReplyDeleteWhat I wasn't aware of is that you can apparently chuck that work entirely and go straight to a deficient budget.
To those who will be on the next council for, Margaret, Rich, Dominic, Jennifer and others: this budget proposal needs to be rejected with great prejudice. You are otherwise setting yourself up for a budget you already don't want that further cuts into the dwindling fund balance.
The topic of bankruptcy came up earlier this year. Kamal brushed it aside and went as far as calling for the resignation of Rich from the council. Maybe this is his parting gift. Earlier today I was wondering aloud what Tom's and Kamal's motivation towards a sensible and realistic budget would be now that they are out. Here's the answer.
This is what we get from Johnson and Depietro on their way out the door after 6 years, a city bank account that is essentially depleted (untouchable)? Gee, thanks for nothin' fellas! Don't worry, we'll clean up your mess for you. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
ReplyDeleteHow about the mayor and the council pres call up all the non profits, under taxed billionaires with pilots, our new fake 501C3’s and ask them to make a donation to our under funded city.
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when we elect a mayor and council president who have never held a job, never had a career and have the accumulated business acumen of a potato.
So true, anyone who has run a business or household knows how to balance a budget, but for some reason, no one in politics can do it. If a business or person continues to operate with a deficit, they go out of business, or go bankrupt. It's not that complicated.
DeleteA crying shame for the two or three parties that still pay property taxes here. What will be cut back? Libraries and youth programs are nice but not essential and not everyone partakes or benefits. What happens with salaries of appointed persons? What is Bard doing with its recently inherited properties? Who in this city can adsorb a rent or mortgage increase. Who?
ReplyDeleteVanessa Grener
When people on this blog are upset about the City budget, they never seem to mention the Treasurer as being somebody responsible for the development of the budget. Why is that?
ReplyDeleteMost likely when most people think of the Treasurer they conceive the role to be similar to an accountant, not someone who makes policy, or decides what money should be spent on, or how much should be allocated. The Treasurer may have more of a role than that, but to the average person on the outside I would assume that's the reason.
Delete- Because Heather is not driving up new expenditures, commitments, and making unfunded promises.
DeleteShe is not underestimating revenues. If you look at the BEA meetings she has steadily increased her caution (as only a mild-mannered accountant / financial professional could).
- Then there is also the fact that she did not assault a resident at a public tax meeting (like DePietro), or date one of her direct reports (like Kamal), or live in Galvan housing with undisclosed rate/rent agreement (like Kamal).
- Heather is also more apolitical and does not spend her out of work time politicking.
- Tom has a regular political radio show (recoded from the Spark of Hudson), his wife is on various County/City Democratic Committees, and Kamal spends most of his time on politics (not running and managing the City) in Albany or Hudson (see his FOIL'ed schedule).
Heather is 1 of 3 votes. If she were 1 of 1, the City would not be in this dire financial situation.
Finally, she is a professional. She answers emails regardless of personal loyalties or friendship, and runs a productive office without drama. Tom and Kamal cannot say that.
~
Nick, could you perhaps work with Greenport to pay for 40% of the City of Hudson Youth Center budget ($~750k) since 40% of the youth are from Greenport.
This alone would cover the current deficit.
Before I was elected to the CC I would occasionally post here. Once elected to CC I made a decision to only post when I was offering factual clarification or information. In that spirit, I want to say the following. On Monday, the Mayor will present the budget to the CC. I encourage all members of the public to attend that meeting if they can. Be prepared to ask questions. In the past, there has been no vote on the budget at that meeting.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Morris, First Ward Council Member