SCHENECTADY — Taxes and fees are going up, but borrowing is going way down in the mayor’s proposed 2014 budget.
Schenectady will pay cash for two police cars, two fire vehicles, and for sewer and water repairs. Until now, the city has generally borrowed money for those items.
Mayor Gary McCarthy said the city needed to start “minimizing our borrowing,” particularly since interest rates are projected to rise.
“We have the opportunity to slowly wean ourselves off,” he said, adding it will eventually improve the city’s credit rating. And the purchases will be cheaper, since the city won’t have to pay interest.
But paying cash means the taxpayers must foot the burden of those purchases all at once, rather than spreading it out over four or more years.
Overall, the $79.6 million budget would increase the average homeowner’s tax bill by $68 a year. Of that, $38 would be in higher sewer and trash fees. The rest would be in additional property taxes, at a rate of $13.92 per $1,000 of assessed property.
Council members vowed to cut that down by the end of the month.
“It’s the council’s job to find areas where we can reduce spending or increase revenue,” said Councilman Carl Erikson, chairman of the finance committee. “It’s our job to go through it and find something.”
But he added that he supports the mayor’s no-loan philosophy.
“I like that idea. Generally, when you can manage your expenses out of your operating budget rather than borrow, that’s a good thing,” Erikson said. “The concept has merit.”
But there is one debt-related item in the budget. The mayor wants to amortize the city’s pension payments under a state system in which the city would pay more but would spread the payments out over time.
McCarthy said it was “prudent” to call for amortization, but noted that he was able to find enough savings in the budget this year to pay the full pension amount even though the 2013 budget also planned to amortize the payment.
He said he will try to repeat that success next year.
With the mayor’s effort to reduce debt comes an increase in sewer fees. Every property owner will be charged $19.51 more next year to help create a $750,000 repair budget. That way, the city won’t have to borrow money to make major repairs.
The water fee is going up too, but only for metered users. That increase will fund a $550,000 repair budget to avoid debt.
The mayor also raised the trash fee by $18.50 per unit — for which he directly blamed city residents.
“This is primarily due to the people who don’t recycle,” he said, adding that he could reduce that fee if recycling increases. The city doesn’t have to pay to get rid of recyclables, but must pay by the ton to dispose of all other waste.
Less than 8 percent of the city’s waste is recycled. When the city started its recycling program in 1992, residents set aside 25 percent of their waste for recycling.
But the real focus of the mayor’s ire fell on the owners of the 1,200 properties in the city that are not paying taxes.
“They drive up our costs, they tie up our resources and I would just like that message to go out that we don’t want them in the city,” he said.
He added that if they all paid their taxes, he would be able to offer a tax cut.
“If everyone were being responsible, we would be arguing over how much of a tax cut to give people,” he said. “We’re a few years away. But we are going to get there.”
His budget proposal assumes that $4.4 million in city property taxes won’t be paid next year. That’s slightly better than this year, when $4.8 million went unpaid.
“It’s moving in the right direction,” he said. “It’s not necessarily moving as fast as I would like.”
Foreclosing on and selling those properties is also not moving as quickly as he’d hoped. But he said the city is close to seizing 545 properties, and is arguing in court over the disposition of 551 other properties already seized.
In six years or less, he projected, the city will have dealt with all those properties.
“I’ve learned that this just moves slow,” he said. “When you think there’s a cookie-cutter mold, well, no, this house has something else. It’s a $10 million dollar deal, except it’s a $50,000 house. But it requires the same number of attorneys, staff hours, as a $10 million dollar deal.”
Some changes in the budget reflect recent criticism.
One of the deputy fire chiefs will be eliminated to help pay for the assistant fire chief position. No one will be laid off — the deputy chief who is promoted will have his former position eliminated. The salary will also be $125,320, down from the $130,000 that the council approved last month.
In that vote, Councilman Vince Riggi criticized the new position and the salary for it. He said he was pleased to see the change, but added that he still felt the assistant chief was overpaid.
The budget also includes $150,000 to replace the in-car video systems in the city’s patrol cars. Police have reported trouble with those cameras for years, and in some cases have turned the system off themselves by pressing a button on their collar microphone.
The system got widespread attention when prosecutors revealed in court this summer that they had no audio evidence from officers who entered Gloria Nelligan’s home to find her dead grandson. Prosecutors said the camera-microphone stopped working.
Nelligan was found guilty of murder Tuesday.
McCarthy said the system was old and would be replaced by a modern camera that could wirelessly download its recordings to a server in the police station. That would be more efficient than physically removing a memory core and downloading it each day, he said.
The mayor is also supporting City Clerk Chuck Thorne’s long-running effort to regulate dogs in the city.
The council has several times rejected Thorne’s proposal for a dog census, in which workers would go door to door to find unlicensed dogs, generally by hearing them bark in response to a knock or a doorbell.
This summer, Thorne began outreach on his own to get dog owners to license their pets, setting up a booth at vaccination clinics, festivals and fairs. He reported significant success, and the mayor included $22,500 to pay for part-time census-takers next year.
The council now has a month to rewrite the budget and vote on it. Meetings begin Wednesday at 5 p.m., at which the council will consider the dog census, all clerk’s office expenses and the city’s revenue projections.
On Thursday at 5 p.m. the council will review the budgets for the law department and the mayor’s office, as well as all employee benefits.
On Oct. 8 at 5 p.m., the council will review the police and fire budgets.
On Oct. 9 and Oct. 15 at 5 p.m., the council will review the budget for general services.
On Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 at 5 p.m., the council will review the finance department budget.
On Oct. 23 at 5 p.m., the council will review the water, sewer and golf funds, as well as the capital budget.
The public cannot comment at the review sessions, but people can comment at any council meeting, including the Oct. 28 meeting. A formal public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15.
He added that if they all paid their taxes, he would be able to offer a tax cut.
Outright lie.
"Approval ratings go up and down for various reasons... An example is the high post 911 support for GWB even though he could be said to be responsible for the event." --- Box A Rox '9/11 Truther'
Melania is a bimbo... she is there to look at, not to listen to. --- Box A Rox and his 'War on Women'
Nice spin. I dont think the city has any choice but to use cash. Moodys is going to crush the city on their next rating. It is sad because if there was ever a time to borrow money it is now with the rates to low, but we are painted in a corner.
I find it interesting that the city has a bloated water and sewer fund (right out of their own mouth), yet need to raise it again?
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With the mayor’s effort to reduce debt comes an increase in sewer fees. Every property owner will be charged $19.51 more next year to help create a $750,000 repair budget. That way, the city won’t have to borrow money to make major repairs.
The water fee is going up too, but only for metered users. That increase will fund a $550,000 repair budget to avoid debt.
The mayor also raised the trash fee by $18.50 per unit — for which he directly blamed city residents.
“This is primarily due to the people who don’t recycle,” he said, adding that he could reduce that fee if recycling increases. The city doesn’t have to pay to get rid of recyclables, but must pay by the ton to dispose of all other waste.
The total trash taxes (tax PLUS "fee") most likely is MORE THAN the cost of any of the private haules. I think the dem cheerleaders cheerleader once said that private cost more than city pick p.
The mayor is rather correct in that residents don't separate their recyclables. but HELL, the residents don't even bother to put trash out properly. I believe trash is supposed to be put in covrered cans, cans are to be stored in the back (that Joe Allen councilman was all over that issue and as a dem he NEVER succeeded in getting that resolved). But the mayor is running around having his city code people going after financially struggling good homeowners for the size of the house numbers rather than going after the residents who fail to put trash in the cans and by virtue of failing to do so, trash bags sit out at the curb and often are ripped open by animals, trash pickers, winos and other bums. Of course the city has that "movable" trash day and they NEVER go fine the people who put their trash out one day early, and if trash day changes from Friday to Monday, the trash bags are put out on Friday and sit all weekend. The mayor and his team ignore that. The size of house numbers is more important.
Eliminate the trash department, make people pay for a private hauler. And I don't care what the tenant mouthpiece says, the city should put the burden on tenants to arrange for their own trash pick-up. But no one in the city has the guts to do that.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
an increase in sewer fees. Every owner will be charged $19.51 more next year
The water fee is going up too, ... That increase will fund a $550,000 repair budget to avoid debt.
The mayor also raised the trash fee by $18.50 per unit ...
But the real focus of the mayor’s ire fell on the owners of the 1,200 properties in the city that are not paying taxes.
“They drive up our costs, they tie up our resources and I would just like that message to go out that we don’t want them in the city,” he said.
He added that if they all paid their taxes, he would be able to offer a tax cut.
His budget proposal assumes that $4.4 million in city property taxes won’t be paid next year. That’s slightly better than this year, when $4.8 million went unpaid.
Foreclosing on and selling those properties is also not moving as quickly as he’d hoped. ...the city is close to seizing 545 properties, and is arguing in court over the disposition of 551 other properties already seized.
In six years or less, he projected, the city will have dealt with all those properties.
The Mayor is a moron.
In 6 years the Mayor will have 3,600 more foreclosed homes to deal with.
As taxes keep rising, why would the genius not realize that foreclosure rates will continue or rise as well.
The Mayor blames the people who don't can't pay taxes as the problem.
He fails to recognize that spending must be kept within the actual revenues, not from what the people he blames should be paying.
The high taxes are the cause of foreclosures.
The foreclosures aren't the reason for high taxes.
He blames the victims of his spending as the problem.
While we currently have over 100 million dollars worth of property granted tax exemptions.
If only the poor would stop going bankrupt and losing their homes, our corporate welfare giveaways could be expanded.
Maybe it's time to eliminate a high-paid Guru de Garbage position being filled by someone living somewhere cheaper and cleaner, and getting there at our expense. I was all for recycling, I used to take my recyclables down to the transfer station myself. Our system is confusing, we don't take enough plastic, and it is not practical in a city with so many dependent people moved up from downstate where they lived in multiple unit dwellings where garbage is something you throw in a chute for the super to handle, that is, if you didn't already throw it out the window.
Remember BS got awards for jacking taxes so high working people couldn't afford their homes, to get a better bond rating? Gary is stuck with the bad results of that action, as far as needing to pay cash now, but he was sitting right there when when it happened.
If Gary were a surgeon he'd blame all his failures on the damn unhealthy people he had to work on. He can't be that stupid, he did graduate from high school. He is more willfully delusional and stubborn, or something. You see this kind of mindset in people with chemical dependency issues. Gary seems to be addicted to old-school, dirtball politics and cronyism, they have always sustained his crowd in the past. The party is over.
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