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SCHENECTADY
Grants to help fight blight
Announcement set for Monday
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    City officials plan to unveil new plans for fighting blight Monday, using federal dollars that have often gone to nonprofit groups.
    Officials wouldn’t reveal their plan ahead of the announcement, slated for 5:30 p.m. at City Council committee meetings at City Hall.
    The city has $1.9 million in Community Development Block Grant funds, $63,262 in extra federal funds sent after last year’s CDBG award was divvied up, and $412,000 in HOME funds.
    Each type of grant is limited to certain purposes — HOME goes toward affordable housing, for example — but city officials have great flexibility in what projects they fund to meet those purposes.
    Although a proposed budget will be presented Monday, the council will make the final decision after a public hearing at 7 p.m. April 9.
    The greatest controversy usually surrounds the CDBG funds, because a percentage can go to nonprofit groups. More groups apply than can be funded, and those that are chosen usually can’t be given as much money as they’d prefer.
    The city CDBG grant shrank about $400,000 this year because of federal cuts. But about the same number of nonprofits applied for the same amount of money as usual, Development Director Richard Purga said.
    “It’s terrible,” he said of the cut. “You have to consider everything.”
    The city lost another $310,000 in the HOME grant. The combined cut was so severe that Purga thought he might have to lay off some of the city staff that administers the grants.
    “I was lucky to make payroll, it was that difficult,” he said. “I was worried initially, with all the cuts, that we’d have to cut development staff.”
    Staff members track each grant recipient’s progress on specifi c performance standards, fi ling reports required by the federal government.
    “The federal requirements are even more demanding now,” Purga said.
    Staff at nonprofits have lobbied for the city to cut the amount of grant money it spends on its own workers so it can spend more on nonprofit projects. They argued vehemently last year for a cut in code enforcers, some of whom were paid through CDBG funding.
    Another possible cut is former Mayor Brian U. Stratton’s “green” homes. Mayor Gary McCarthy has said repeatedly the city should stop building the high-tech “green” homes — complete with solar panels and bamboo flooring — that it sells to lower-income residents for far less than the cost of construction.
    That project was funded through the HOME grant. If it is abandoned altogether, the city could use its entire HOME fund on another initiative.
    The project did allow the city to knock down some blighted houses and replace them with new buildings, but the houses were marketed to low-income, fi rst-time homebuyers. Some of them were caught offguard by the high taxes that hit a year after they bought the homes, when the completed houses were assessed at their market value rather than their low sale price.
    At least one family begged to be allowed to sell because they couldn’t afford the taxes — but the city deal required they stay for years.
    The city scaled back the houses in recent years, making them smaller and less luxurious, as well as crafting a deal with the assessor that reduced the assessed value slightly.
    Purga’s plan Monday will also discuss a third federal grant, this one for emergency shelters. It was sharply restricted until this year, with the funds having to go toward homeless shelters. But this year, it can be spent on any “solutions” to homelessness.
    To Purga’s surprise, Congress actually supported the change with additional funds — in Schenectady’s case, another $88,000. .......................>>>>........................>>>>........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01501&AppName=1

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The city lost another $310,000 in the HOME grant. The combined cut was so severe that Purga thought he might have to lay off some of the city staff that administers the grants.
    “I was lucky to make payroll, it was that difficult,” he said. “I was worried initially, with all the cuts, that we’d have to cut development staff.”

Gee, maybe if the dems made the millionaires and politically connected downtown properties pay their taxes, the Purga wouldn't have to worry about cutting staff.   There is NOTHING in these grants that say administrative costs (employees) must must be exclusively from federal funds.   The grant may reflect X amount for admininistration, but that amount was always initended to supplement expenses of the city in administering them.  

Guess the fact that there is finally a true representative of the TAXAPAYERS on the council now, the dems have seen that it can no longer be business as usual

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At least one family begged to be allowed to sell because they couldn’t afford the taxes — but the city deal required they stay for years.

Sorry, but that's what you get when you patronize the politically corrupt.  Do your homework, evaluate EVERYTHING.  Now, these first time buyers will be inelegible to buy any other home using the first time buyer credits.

Instead of educating the public and new potential owners, they put lipstick on the pig, dangle the carrot in front of their face and then bend them over and shove itto them.  Great city Schenectady is ... really makes me want to live there.  It used to be a place we were proud of - now it just disgusts me.

It is apparent that schenectady is TOTALLY being supported by taxpayer's money. From businesses, to homeowners, to renters..etc!
It is clear to the intelligent...that nothing and no one in schenectady can survive WITHOUT somehow or in someway being propped up by taxpayer's $$$$!!

Independent living and financial independence has become a thing of the past in Schenectady. It's a crime ridden welfare heaven with a impotent court system!!!

And you notice, when more proof of WASTE of taxpayer money is posted, the big cheerleader -  for soaking the financially struggling homeowners out of even more of their money -  is TOTALLY SPEECHLESS  

Most of the cash will pad pensions.

I hope that this means they are buying one-way tickets to send the nayboob with multi-personalities (mikechristine/grahambonnet/mobileterminal/alias/patches) to live in Antartica or - better yet - some asteroid.  Once we get rid of the nayboob rubbish -- Schenectady will look a whole lot better.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

I hope that this means they are buying one-way tickets to send the nayboob with multi-personalities (mikechristine/grahambonnet/mobileterminal/alias/patches) to live in Antartica or - better yet - some asteroid.  Once we get rid of the nayboob rubbish -- Schenectady will look a whole lot better.

Another worthless post.