It's not only the parking lot, there's an additional $2,000 for the firehouse mechanic which was cut last year to start moving fire truck repairs to the village mechanic. Also, there's an increase of $240 for the fire house janitorial services which is performed by Chief Armitage. Chief Armitage also performs outside maintenance work at the firehouse on a monthly basis which should be assigned to DPW. That allocation could be removed from the fire dept. budget. DPW does the outside and inside maintenance work in our village owned buildings. There is also the issue of 31 cell phones which our employees have in this village that is 2.2 square miles. I feel we could reduce that number to dept. heads and water personnel who monitor our production sites.

As we discussed the replacement of the ladder truck at the work session, it was suggested that this could be considered as we satisfy our financial obligations. Well, it's not that easy. Everyone has heard much about the 'five year plan' but that only applies to Revenue Anticipation Notes. We have long term bonding which goes until 2016, 2019 and 2021 in water and general. This debt is going to be with us for a very long time and I feel very strongly that we need to live within our means. We also know that the national and state economic problems which do trickle down to us are not going away soon.

And I would like to recognize the fiscal responsibility that our new police chief has demonstrated. We asked him to take a hard look at this budget and he came back to us with a $80,000 savings. That is what we need to get through these difficult times and I thank him for his diligence.

This is why I felt we should look deeper into our budget lines to find areas that we would make cuts. Then we could present a budget that is truly the best we could do for the taxpayer.

A good start would be to eliminate 2 trustee positions. 3 is plenty.
Pat Welch

I would like to commend our mayor and trustees who fight for our every dollar even though politics and entitlements get in the way of a sustainable gov.
Keep asking those questions and probing for every penny!

Here is how one village in upstate NY might solve its inability to fiscally manage itself. The village of Port Henry is putting to vote the possibility of ending its municipal existance. Village taxpayers would see a 33% drop in their overall property taxes. Here is the link to the article: http://www.pressrepublican.com/0100_news/local_story_021220610.html

Peter,

Excellant article. Everyone should read.
Thanks for posting. Pat

It would be instructive to be able to revisit Port Henry's story in five or ten years, to gauge if, in fact, there was an appreciable long term savings. My guess is that it will be a wash, tax-wise, since the town's taxes will, by necessity, rise to accommodate the services required from the former village. The fire district will be just on of several new a la carte taxes which former villagers will now have to pay. There's also no mention of whether Port Henry was carrying any significant debt service, as we are, and how that would factor into their formula. It would probably negate any windfall from the sales of their municipal buildings.

Nothing's free, but on the surface it sure sounds like a magic pill.

It is simplistic to suggest eliminating two trustee positions. Having a total of three board members would mean that two people would constitute a majority. Do you really want two people to make all the crucial decisions for your village? Protecting ourselves from our human faults is why most boards are comprised of at least 5 people.

Fiscal Responsibility? 6 % tax increase in a deep recession is an outrage!

When certain trustees vote in lock step with the mayor it's a waste of money carrying yes men/women on the board. Yes 3 would do just fine in a Village of 2,000 people. It's a waste of money in these financial times to keep 5 trustees who just rubber stamp things and are more concerned about Boulders and Global Warming then the Village's Fiscal responsibilities.
Pat Welch

I wish there was this much debate with our school taxes

Mr. Welch, you can perpetuate gossip or you can attend meetings. If you did, you might possibly realize that what you are saying here is, in actuality, a total fiction.

There is a fairly large sized boulders down in Donahue Park and I seem to remember a picture in our local newspaper of a certain trustee standing with a grimace pointing towards Storm King Mountain. Also seem to remember same trustee quoted in same paper refering to the greatest problem facing us being global warming. The greatest problem facing us to to vote in trustees that will concentrate on real issues.

Evolve.

This coming March the Board will >>Evolve<<.

Rick, we are behind you. You have some great ideas, keep them flowing!

Stephan,

Forget heading to the trenches. Scream it at the top of your lungs. We pay a mayor and FIVE Trustees for what? I suggested cutting back to THREE Trustees and get berated by Gioia. I AGREE eliminate the village completely. Let us become part of the town. We will pay for NO MAYOR and NO TRUSTEES a good beginning at saving. The Town Supervisor is doing a good job. This double layer of government should be a thing of the past. It's time for action. We nshould put it to a referendum and let the people decide.

Mr. Welch doesn't seem to know how many trustee comprise his village board (it's four, not five), so he's already achieved half his dream of losing two! To address Mr. Wilkinson's comment, I'd just like to remind him that less than two months ago, the town board raised taxes 10%. By comparison, the village will see it's tax rise by just over half that amount, at 5.4%. Lastly (and excusing myself, of course), I would take issue with the premise that the town's board, elected from a population of 13,000 has proportionally more expertize and depth than the village's board (elected from 3000). I'll bet that our turnout numbers at the polls lessen that differential even more.

No I just don't see it worth paying a trustee whom seems to put effort into playing with boulders and who's major worry is global warming while the village is in terrible financial condition.

I also believe Stephans comment about finding skilled management from a larger pool is correct. The town has a long time Businessman as supervisor while the village has a handyman. 261 Votes Mr. Gioia. By the skin of your teeth last election. As I said before I know you will receive two less in March and I feel there are many who feel as I do. Your arrogance as a first term trustee is amazing.

Go ahead J.B. and lay it on thick on what a great job our trustee has done(not).

I think what we need to lay on thick is a big fat slab of civil discourse.
I responded to this thread the other night but due to the exhaustive length of my post (go figure) I got timed out on my email...Suffice to say that it is possible to disagree vehemently with folks and still maintain a measure of respect for other people who are expressing their beliefs.
Most of my post had to do with the consolidation issue that Stephan raised. I agree that duplication of service is crazy, but the craziness extends beyond that to the identities of the village and town mentalities. There has been a subtle rivalry ever since elementary school, when the kids would argue about who had the better playground (Lee Road) or who had the most awesome auditorium (CoH). It carried all the way up to the middle school and even the high school. Asking people to let go of the singularity that makes them the village is like asking someone to give up a part of their innermost sense of self. Christ, this could take years of therapy...

Redundancies are unnecessary. There should be no rivalries, especially starting in elementary school. Unity is the key to success. No need for double the municipalities. Consolidation makes sense.