The presentations of two of the three proposals for the redevelopment of the Dunn warehouse are expected to take place at tonight's Common Council meeting.
Although the presentations may be the item of greatest interest on the agenda for tonight's meeting, some resolutions have been added to the agenda in the past day or so that are also noteworthy.
The first is an amendment to the 2026 budget that the Council rejected last month. The budget amendment would add $104,376 to the Youth Department's $715,869 budget for 2026. The additional money would come from the fund balance. The resolution reads in part:
WHEREAS, The Youth Department budget for 2026 inadvertently omitted funds for two existing personnel lines, and
WHEREAS, the city budget for 2026 underestimated revenues for 2026, including--but not limited to--property sales, sales tax, and penalties from unpaid property taxes. . . .
On November 26, Gossips reported that, in his budget presentation to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA), Calvin Lewis, youth director, erroneously indicated there were two vacant full-time positions at the Youth Department, when in fact there was only one. When the BEA decided to impose a hiring freeze and eliminated the salaries for vacant positions from the budget, they unwittingly eliminated the salary of someone who was already working as athletic director, a.k.a. full-time rec attendant. The resolution being presented to the Council tonight reinstates not only that person's salary but also the salary for the open position of assistant director, making the Youth Department immune from the hiring freeze being imposed on all the other departments.
There are also three resolutions accepting settlements in Article 7 proceedings brought by the Galvan Foundation and related LLCs against the City of Hudson over property assessments in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The resolution for the 2023 proceeding indicates that assessments have been reduced on eight properties: 105 Union Street, 354 Warren Street (formerly Johnny's Ideal), 28 Allen Street, 30 Allen Street, 250-252 Allen Street, 70-72 North Fifth Street, 449 Prospect Street, and 92 Union Turnpike.
The resolution for the 2024 proceeding includes four properties already listed in the resolution for 2023.
The total reduction in the assessments of the eight properties amounts to $729,256.
Tonight's Common Council meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK
Ok, so I understand extending grace and allowing a fix to the Youth Department Director’s error and budgeting for the filled position so it doesn’t become a layoff. But for the vacant one, why should they be an exception to the hiring freeze? The fair thing is to treat all departments the same. We are in a major budget shortfall. The 2025 budget may still also come short, and we are also raising taxes at the extended allowable amount. This is just another setup by Tom and Kamal on their way out the door to put a poison pill in what was a generally agreed upon solution to the clerical error of the Youth Department, so the council can “take it or leave it.” Then they (Kamal and friends) can go on Facebook and goad the people who don’t follow details and go “ooooh!!! They want to shut down the Youth Department!”
ReplyDeleteAnd I see a parting gift to Galvan as well. Garbage. The tax breaks ended, ta ta and goodbye!
I think the FB fits might be a thing of the past now. Tonight's council meeting I thought was a model of reason and genuine desire to resolve an annoying clerical error and the correct outcome was passed with a unanimous vote.
DeleteMaybe Hudson is healing already.
Yeah, the era of Tom’s bullying and last minute rush jobs are over.
DeleteAlso, hi Tom 😘
The Galvan assessments appear on the low side compared to non Galvan assessments on comparable properties sold within the last few years. Hope citywide assessment review will be conducted in the near term to promote greater fairness and transparency in the process
ReplyDeleteThis is the solution, as well as keeping them regular though trending—which keeps them balanced, does away with “Welcome Stranger” and avoids surprise jumps when there is an overdue revaluation.
DeleteThis is how New York State and Hudson ends up with the highest taxes in the country and in the Valley.
ReplyDeleteSee the 2026 Tax Foundation Competitiveness Ranking:
https://www.instagram.com/hudson.common.sense/
Kamal, Tom, and the well placed Youth Center (Frank) and Galvan (Scalera) lobbyists are driving up taxes on middle class families and making Hudson unaffordable for those they claim to help.