Friday, October 18, 2013

Councilman's Tuttle & Callahan against breaking tax cap

http://hudsonvalleyreporter.com/dutchess/2013/10/town-of-fishkill-preliminary-budget-looks-to-reduce-deficit/ For more local news check out the papers website.

Greg Maker, reporter

FISHKILL, N.Y. – Fishkill Supervisor Bob LaColla said that the town spent less on special districts, such as water and sewer, in 2013 and will use those savings to pay off the deficit in a fund used exclusively for the town to get back in the black by 2015.
The town is trying to close the deficit in four funds, which include town-wide services, services for the town only, the town-wide highway fund, and the highway fund exclusively for the town. LaColla said in two years they should be out of the financial misery found by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in a recent audit due to this plan.
“This will allow us to take care of capital needs we have that we neglected such as paving roads,” LaColla said. “It will also be seen as a deficit-reduction plan by Moody’s and the state.”
Councilman Tony Curry said that this plan would help the town focus more on other services it can offer to residents.
“The reduction in the deficit is going to put us in a position to get rid of the black cloud that has been hanging over the town, “Curry said.
LaColla suggested to the Town Board to run up to the tax cap of 1.66 percent and possibly override it in case there is a calculation error. A local law would have to be adopted to do that but LaColla said the board decided not to go this route considering it adopted a 53 percent tax increase last year. Both Councilmen Brian Callahan and Tim Tuttle said that it would be a mistake to go over the tax cap.
“I’m not going to vote for anything like that,” Callahan said. “We need to work the numbers out and see where they fall.”
Instead the board opted to reduce the amount of money it would spend to buy down the deficit to leave a little bit of a cushion to make sure it doesn’t go over the tax cap. Though the 16.3 million budget carries a 1.66 percent tax increase, LaColla said that the final number should be between 1.36 and 1.46 percent.
The Town Board also accepted a request from Judge Harold Epstein to raise the salaries of court employees. Currently, the court offices in Fishkill are only open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Part of the compromise would be to increase the hours of the court to 5 p.m., which would effectively expand the court employees workweek to 40 hours thus increasing their pay. LaColla said that the salary increases will be offset by a high deductible health insurance plan that should save the town money in the long run.
“They are pressed trying to get their work done as it is,” LaColla said about the court employees.
Tuttle said that the extra hours will help the town process tickets issued by the police department which are currently backlogged.
“They are currently processing tickets from 2009,” Tuttle said. “This will help increase the amount of money coming into the town. There is going to be a net savings to the town because of this.”
Additionally, LaColla said that several water districts outside of the town will have their rates adjusted because the rates in some districts have remained the same for years while others have seen astronomical increases, such as the Dutchess Park Sewer District, which had its rates raised 135 percent in August.
“We are going to make adjustments where necessary,” LaColla said. “There seems to be a lack of clarity in debt service in some districts.”
LaColla said that the Town Board is expected to adopt the preliminary budget to present to the public at its meeting on Oct. 23. A public hearing will be set for input from the community on Nov. 6.
Town of Fishkill Preliminary Budget Looks to Reduce Deficit

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Fishkill Justice makes solid case for salary increase for staff

http://hudsonvalleyreporter.com/dutchess/2013/10/town-of-fishkill-court-employees-ask-for-salary-increases/ For more local news, check out the papers website

Posted by: 

FISHKILL, N.Y. – Court employees in the town of Fishkill are asking for a salary raise comparable to nearby municipalities; however, with a tight budget and many fiscal challenges facing the town that may prove difficult. The town was recently declared “fiscally stressed” by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli,
Judge Harold Epstein petitioned the Town Board for raises for court personnel including judges and clerks at its meeting Wednesday night. Epstein said that if salaries are raised, it will increase both morale and productivity.
“Our clerks go above and beyond their duties,” Epstein said. “They didn’t have to do grant applications but they took the initiative to do it anyway. A good clerk is invaluable to the court and we’re lucky to have three very good ones.”
Epstein didn’t say how much of an increase court employees are looking for but said that they make significantly less than their colleagues in the bordering towns of Wappinger and East Fishkill. Court clerks in Wappinger make approximately $55,000 annually, while those in East Fishkill make approximately $70,000 per year. In comparison, court clerks in Fishkill make about $37,000. Additionally, judges in Wappinger make just under $27,000 while East Fishkill pays judges about $31,500 per year. Judges in Fishkill currently make $23,500.
“Our salaries are not even close to being comparable,” Epstein said. “We are asking for a fair increase in salary to compensate our clerks for the fantastic job they do. I don’t expect our chief clerk’s salary to go up to what they make in East Fishkill and Wappinger but it has been years since we received a specific pay increase.”
Supervisor Bob LaColla said that one compromise is to increase number of hours that court personnel work .Court offices have been operating from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and LaColla said that town could consider increasing the workday by two hours by keeping the offices open until 5 p.m.
“I see court clerks here early everyday and I agree with the judge,” LaColla said. “I asked for all department heads to consider the benefits to any increases either in salary or for town projects. However, if we entertain every department head request it would be a 63 percent increase in taxes across the board. We need to keep in mind that we still have roughly $5 million in deficit.”
Epstein said that court employees haven’t asked for salary increases or money for court equipment recently because they’ve gotten grants from New York State that provided everything from copy machines to computers and cash registers.
Councilman Tim Tuttle said that since the town ranks close to the Top 10 across the state in revenue, it should be able to afford some type of salary increase.
Councilman Kurt Buck said that the Town Board should at least take a look at the court employees’ request.
“Maybe we can cut other places like holding off on road repair for another year until we get another budget,” Buck said.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Letter to Southern Dutchess News

Last week the paper published a story on Fishkill’s recent audit. In that story, the Republican Supervisor who runs a 4-1 GOP town board. Stated that there were “no surprises” in the audit. Is he kidding? The Supervisor, who is covering for his Republican predecessor by refusing to conduct a forensic audit, even read the audit?
 
In the audit, the Supervisor makes a claim that he found the $750,000 missing from the Siscar Sewer project. How could he find something that was right in front of him? The Supervisor was a Councilman when the developer gave Siscar the sewer monies. Did he just forget about it? The Supervisor also seems to think that over $850,000 that was budgeted as revenue from the Siscar district, that “never” existed was found by him, how so?
 
The Fishkill GOP has not only let the former Republican Supervisor off the hook, they are just totally disregarding $850,000 of illegally allocated money that never existed. Why is the Republican Supervisor allowing such criminal activity to go unchallenged? I guess the Fishkill Republican Party could care less what the voters think. In fact, the 4 members of the GOP board decided is was easier to raise Sewer taxes 135% than to hold those that ruined Fishkill's economy accountable. The 2 Republican candidates who were at the 135% tax increase vote, sat quiet and complied, just like they would do if elected. Never mind that one candidate was the GOP Chairman under Pagones and the other one has Pagones running his campaign. So much for that new “voice.”
 
Too bad the voters think otherwise. Earlier this month there was a Conservative Party primary where the Democratic/Independent candidates received 40% and 20% of the vote. That’s right, there is a strong showing by Conservatives in this town who are sick and tired of Fishkill Republicans raising taxes without accountability. As a Conservative Democrat, I am looking forward to taking the Fishkill GOP’s record to the rest of the voters in town. I wonder how many Republicans in town are also sick and tired of the Fishkill GOP raising taxes without accountability.
 
I urge my fellow Conservatives and Republican friends to balance this board before it’s too late. Re-elect Tim Tuttle for Councilman along with Mr. Thomas Knips. The Fishkill GOP does not deserve a 5-0 board, unless of course you like high taxes without accountability.
 
Ozzy Albra
 
Fishkill