Stratton hailed for turnaround Mayor wins financial management awards BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com
Mayor Brian U. Stratton won two awards this month for leading Schenectady to financial recovery, although residents may not agree with some of the praise he received. Both awards said Stratton was right to raise user fees when he created a fee for garbage collection, which was roughly the equivalent of a 6 percent to 8 percent tax hike. That fee is still quite unpopular in the city, although the mayor has argued that it is a fairer way to distribute the cost of trash pickup, is cheaper than hiring private service, and allows the city to edge away from the constitutional tax limit. Moody’s Investors Service has also said the fee was a good idea, and both awards noted that Stratton was able to raise much-needed revenue with the fee. Stratton was also praised for cutting taxes. He has offered a 1 percent tax cut with each of the last two budgets. But residents are still dissatisfi ed by the city’s high tax rate. They are still smarting from the 26 percent hike issued by the previous administration when the fiscal crisis hit. Before that hike, the city’s tax rate was $14.59 per $1,000 assessed. Since then, the city has recovered but the rate has ballooned to $21.10 while assessments have gone up. Stratton has said repeatedly that his goal is to keep reducing taxes through modest cuts, while some residents have asked for massive spending reductions to create significant tax cuts. SAVINGS HELP But one portion of each award appears to have even skeptical residents’ wholehearted approval. Both awards praised Stratton for partnering with other governments to reduce costs and improve effi - ciency. The biggest savings have come from the vehicle maintenance deal, in which the county agreed to maintain the city’s fleet for an annual fee of about $1 million — half of what it cost the city to do the same work. The county also has a night shift that allows vehicles to be repaired more quickly, and if that weren’t enough, the county workers appear to be doing a better job than their city counterparts. Many city vehicles turned out to be in very poor condition — some unable to pass inspection — and now are saving the city thousands of dollars in gasoline because repairs improved mileage. City officials are also seeing savings in overtime because fewer essential tasks are delayed by a vehicle breakdown. In accepting the first of his two awards, Stratton said Schenectady’s recovery “would not have been possible” without partnerships to consolidate and share costs. He added that he also couldn’t have led the city out of deficit without residents’ support. Although many residents have grumbled, voters overwhelmingly returned him to office last fall. He won more than 70 percent of the vote, the highest winning margin since the city went to the strong-mayor form of government. “None of our success would have been possible without the cooperation and sacrifice of the citizens of Schenectady,” Stratton said. The New York State chapter of the Association of Government Accountants and the Performance Institute both recognized the mayor for his efforts. He was given the Performance Institute’s City and County Performance Management Award and the AGA’s Outstanding Achievements in Government Accountability Award.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Stratton was also praised for cutting taxes. He has offered a 1 percent tax cut with each of the last two budgets.
...before they paid to get the garbage taken away...
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Before that hike, the city’s tax rate was $14.59 per $1,000 assessed. Since then, the city has recovered but the rate has ballooned to $21.10 while assessments have gone up.
Doesn't look like much of a "recovery."
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The biggest savings have come from the vehicle maintenance deal, in which the county agreed to maintain the city’s fleet for an annual fee of about $1 million
Do we want to take a guess how much this "savings" costs the county?
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City officials are also seeing savings in overtime because fewer essential tasks are delayed by a vehicle breakdown.
And do we want to guess how much of this "savings" is instead paying for cops to watch their kids go bowling and do other things while they're working overtime?
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The county also has a night shift that allows vehicles to be repaired more quickly, and if that weren’t enough,
I think the closing of this sentance SHOULD have been "those employees who work the overnight shifts to save the city money are employed at a premium rate for the inconvenience of the hours that they work, and spread the costs to more than just the residents of the city."
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“None of our success would have been possible without the cooperation and sacrifice of the citizens of Schenectady,” Stratton said.
Maybe he stuttered and they didn't get the last word he said...namely "COUNTY."
Yasser Arifat received the Nobel Peace Prize too.......who gives out those awards.....maybe Mr.Stratton would like to go for that too, while dealing with 'the hill' and the 'other' issues that he seems not to see........I will give him an E for effort.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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