SCHENECTADY City’s 2010 looks tougher than ’09 Stratton: Reduce spending to hold line on property taxes BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
There are six months left to go in 2009 but already city department heads are sweating bullets over 2010. They were all asked to cut their budget requests for next year — a request made with such urgency that even the police department cut $68,000. Finance Commissioner Ismat Alam started the budget process a month earlier than usual and said it will be her most difficult budget ever. Mayor Brian U. Stratton has made similar comments in response to pleas from residents who saw their taxes rise sharply with this year’s reassessment. They want a significant tax cut, but Stratton has said he may not be able to offer any cut at all. The directive to department heads said that if they chopped their expenses significantly the budget might hold the line on taxes. But when department heads submitted their requests in recent weeks, they didn’t meet that goal. In some departments, losses in revenue have more than eaten the proposed cuts, department heads said. And others haven’t been able to cut at all. Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said he asked for a 10 percent increase. “Everyone’s working very hard for a zero-percent increase. It crushed me to have to go down and say, ‘I can’t do with less, I’m going to need more,’” Van Norden said. “I can’t cut more. I’m out of things to cut.” He asked that Community Development Block Grant money be sent to his department to combat blight — grant money had been cut years ago — and proposed a fee on abandoned buildings that might draw in enough funds to cover the cost of insurance in case some of them burn down. “So we won’t have another million dollar loss,” Van Norden said, referring to the fire that destroyed the vacant Brandywine School. At the police department, Assistant Chief Michael Seber cut by proposing a reduction in overtime. The patrol division was budgeted to spend $750,000 in overtime this year. He’s cutting that by $25,000 for next year. It’s a calculated risk. The department usually spends twice what it’s budgeted for overtime. But Seber figures that next year’s influx of 10 to 30 new officers — who will be paid $20,000 less than the long-time officers they are replacing — will lead to lower overtime even if the number of overtime hours stays the same. The new officers earn a much lower overtime pay rate. The only trouble is that they will be in training for nine months — during which time the city must use overtime to fill their positions while still paying them. Still, there will be some savings in salary from the new officers, he said. Even with all his cuts, the department’s total budget is going up. ...........>>>>.............................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....1&Continuation=1
This city doesn't have the guts to make the hard choices to cut spending because it will cost someone votes in the next election. Their solution of raising taxes every time they need more money to fund their welfare programs and patronage jobs has to end and the only way for that to happen is to vote them out of office.
Son of Sam been in office 6 years and only now looks at spending? Since he has been elected governmental spending has doubled. He could care less {let the stupid City sheeple pay more} and has no budgeting expertise. Remember his former job was with pathetic now Gov Paterson.
Son of Sam and Paterson-what a team! They are doing a job greening the City and State by forcing taxpayers to flee for their lives.
The only reason stratton is talking about reducing spending is because it is an election year. So fellow dems feel they can get votes if they reference and ride on his coat tails.
Now that speaks volumes dontcha think?
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
"An election year" with only liberal KRATS on the ballot? None of them care if they did they would have cut spending years ago. The same recycles over and over. A Cuban/Schenectady style election.
We need the NO NEW TAX PARTY countywide-the sooner the better. And the newbies that think there's no difference and they're all the same need to wake up quickly. Support only fiscal CONS from any party.
Logged
Son of Sam been in office 6 years and only now looks at spending? Since he has been elected governmental spending has doubled. He could care less {let the stupid City sheeple pay more} and has no budgeting expertise. Remember his former job was with pathetic now Gov Paterson. 
