Now Its Time To Cap, Consolidate, And Cut Spending To Keep Property Taxes In Check
Governor Spitzer has announced the members of what will certainly come to be known as the Suozzi Commission, the official State body created to find ways to reduce New York's outrageously high property taxes.
A few of those named are familiar -- like Basil Paterson, the former Secretary of State, and Shirley Strum Kenny, the President of SUNY's university center at Stony Brook.
There's also an investment banker, Michael Solomon of Merrill Lynch; a former Onoandaga County Exec, Nicholas Pirro (the Commission will have to first set out to find Onandaga County :-); the vice chancellor of NY's Board of Regents, Merryl Tisch (too bad we can't test the property tax to death); and attorney Paul Tokasz, a former majority leader of the NYS Assembly.
Fine for a study group, assuming the solution is academic. We question whether there is much in the way of innovative, out of the box new-age thinkers among the chosen, though. Other than perhaps having to pay property taxes, and lending their names to the Commission, why these folks as opposed to noteworthy headliners such as Catherine Zeta Jones or Denzel Washington.
We are pleased, for the most part, by the Governor's appointment to the Commission's Advisory Board: Robert Ward, deputy director for SUNY's Rockefeller Institute of Government; Elizabeth Lynam, deputy research director at the Citizens Budget Commission; Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action of New York; and Lisa Donner, co-director of the Center for Working Families.
Would that the average Joe or two from the Empire State -- in the realm of Mr. & Mrs. Property Taxpayer -- had made the cut. It would have made the Commission's case more compelling, and the urgency of finding practical, truly cost-saving solutions, even more of an imperative.
Oh well. John Q. Public will have to hold his peace until the perfunctory public hearings, we suppose.
Mindful of political considerations, we also would have tapped Senator Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), the State Senate's Deputy Majority Leader, who has some decent ideas of his own -- particularly on school spending -- and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) to join the panel.
Surely, they'd be loathe to subvert the work of the Commission from the inside, and they'd be pressed to come up with workable (and passable) remedial measures worthy of implementation by the Legislature when the Commission presents its preliminary recommendations (by May 15) and final recommendations (by December 1).
Also, strong and knowledgeable voices concerning affairs of the taxpayers' wallets, say, Kent Gardner of the Center for Government Research, and Edmund J. McMahon, Director of The Empire Center for New York State Policy, would have been credible and welcome additions to the Advisory Board.
Anyway, we all know that this is Tom Suozzi's ball to carry (so let no one steal the spotlight) -- or to drop -- and that the Commission that will come to bear his name will have his indelible mark on it.
Suozzi knows exactly where he wants to go on the highway to property tax relief. Lord knows, he's been talking about the issue long enough, and squawking about Albany's utter failure to do anything about it.
Now New Yorkers must insist not only that the Suozzi Commission's work move forward with all deliberate speed, unimpeded by political roadblocks (the usual GOP suspects are already laying out the roadblocks), and unencumbered by a State Legislature more concerned about securing its meal ticket than assuring that our proprty tax burden -- now virtually the highest in the nation -- is driven down and kept there.
On both sides of the aisle, elected officials realize that the number one issue for New Yorkers -- and the one they will have to address and come to terms with BEFORE the November election -- is property taxes.
It is not only in our best interest, but in their own, to work with the Suozzi Commission, and to act swiftly and forthrightly upon the Commission's ultimate findings.
Armed with subpoena power, the Suozzi Commission can take testimony under oath, subject to the penalties of perjury, of those with pertinent knowledge or information.
Perhaps among the first subpoenae issued, should be those to leaders of the NYS Legislature (surely, they will waive immunity), who can testify, under oath, as to their efforts, and pledge, before all New Yorkers, to that which is the Commission's primary objective -- to lower the sky-high property tax by all reasonable means. [We "don't need a commission to tell people that their property taxes are strangling them," as the Senate's Deputy Majority Leader, Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) so aptly opined. But just maybe we do need a Commission to tell the State Legislature what to do about those property taxes, inclusive of adopting some of Senator Skelos' own ideas, such as making all newly hired teachers State employees.]
Godspeed to the Suozzi Commission. May your endeavors and committment to the financial security of all New York taxpayers do in resolving the property tax crisis, what the Mollen Commission did in the 1990s for the integrity of the New York City Police Department.
Our tax dollars are in your hands!
- - -
GOVERNOR SPITZER ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF NEW COMMISSION ON PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced the signing of an Executive Order creating the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief. This bipartisan commission, which will have Moreland Act powers, will examine the root causes of high property taxes, identify ways to make the State’s property tax system fairer, and develop a fair and effective school property tax cap to hold the line on property tax growth.
“Ever-growing local property taxes impose a tremendous burden on New York taxpayers, force seniors out of their homes, drive our young people out of our state, and discourage the formation and expansion of businesses,” said Governor Spitzer. “Our efforts to address this crisis – including unprecedented increases in State education aid and more than $5 billion in STAR school tax relief – have not slowed the growth in local property taxes. We need to explore new approaches, including reducing unfunded mandates and placing a cap on the growth of school property taxes. The creation of this Commission is the first step in this process.”
The Commission will be chaired by Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi who has been outspoken on the issue of property tax relief. The Commission’s members are Nicholas J. Pirro, former Onondaga County Executive; Paul A. Tokasz, former member of the State Assembly; Basil A. Paterson, former Secretary of State and former State Senator; Merryl H. Tisch, member, State Board of Regents; Shirley Strum Kenny, President, SUNY Stony Brook; and Michael Solomon, Director, Merrill Lynch & Co.
Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi said: “New Yorkers pay the highest property taxes in the nation, a burden our residents and businesses can no longer bear. We need to take a comprehensive look at the root causes and recommend ways to reduce them. I commend Governor Spitzer for making this issue a top priority, and I appreciate the confidence he has placed in me by asking me to chair the Commission. I look forward to the challenge and to working with all the distinguished Commission members on an issue I have spent much of my career in public service tackling.”
Under the Executive Order, the Commission will study, examine, investigate, review and make recommendations in the following areas:
- the root causes of New York’s high property tax burden, including the expenditures of local governments and school districts, unfunded mandates imposed by the State, and other factors driving the growth of local property tax levies;
- the effectiveness of the various state mechanisms to provide property tax relief to different classes of taxpayers;
- the effectiveness of property tax caps as a mechanism to control growth in school district tax levies, the experience of other states in implementing such caps, and the potential impact of such caps on educational achievement;
- the most effective approach to imposing a limit on school property tax growth in New York State without adversely impacting the ability of school districts to provide a quality education to all schoolchildren;
- the impact of increased state financial support and state taxpayer relief and rebate programs on local school district budgets and tax levies; and
- the extent of public involvement in the development and approval of school and other local government budgets.
The Commission is to make preliminary recommendations for a statutory school property tax cap by May 15, 2008, and report its final recommendations by December 1, 2008.
John Reid, Deputy Director of State Operations and Executive Director of the Commission on Higher Education, will serve as Executive Director of the Commission.
The announcement today in the Red Room at the State Capitol was one of three events today where the Governor stressed the importance of the Commission to address the property tax relief concerns for all New Yorkers.
Commission Members:
Thomas R. Suozzi is in his second term as Nassau County Executive. He is known as a government reformer and he has also worked as an attorney, certified public accountant, and former Mayor of Glen Cove for eight years. Mr. Suozzi continues to work to bring strong management, fiscal discipline, compassion, and vision to Nassau County. Under Mr. Suozzi, Nassau has its lowest crime rate in 30 years and is the safest place in the nation with over a million people. The parks system is making a comeback, and for the first time in the county’s history voters approved $150 million in bonds to preserve open space.
Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny is the President of Stony Brook University. After a distinguished career as a literary scholar, teacher, and academic administrator, she came to Stony Brook as its fourth President in 1994. Since then, she has worked to strengthen the core academic and research operations of the University, fostered close links with business and industry, and established new working relationships with the Long Island community. Concerned about the state of undergraduate education at major research universities, Dr. Kenny headed a national initiative to address the issue. She launched and chaired the Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University with funding from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Dr. Kenny holds bachelor's degrees in English and Journalism from the University of Texas, an M.A. from the University of Minnesota, a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and honorary doctorates from the University of Rochester, and Chonnam National, Dongguk, and Ajou Universities in Korea.
Basil A. Paterson is a partner in the law firm of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. Mr. Paterson has served as New York’s Secretary of State and as New York City Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations and Personnel. He has also served as a New York State Senator, and as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Mr. Paterson chaired the New York City Mayor’s Judiciary Committee for four years; chaired the Governor’s Judicial Screening Panel for the Second Department for eight years, and served on the Commission on Judicial Nomination for twelve years. He is presently the Chairperson of the KeySpan Foundation Board of Directors. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s College and a Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s Law School.
Nicholas J. Pirro served as Onondaga County Executive for 20 years, retiring at the end of 2007. He has been credited for fiscally conservative policies aimed at reducing taxes and government spending, while improving services. Mr. Pirro began his career in public service in 1965 when he was appointed to the Onondaga County Board of Supervisors (now the Onondaga County Legislature). He was elected Onondaga County Executive in 1987 and was instrumental in many landmark initiatives during his career, including the establishment of the Onondaga Community College Campus, reestablishing the City-County Drug Abuse Commission, implementing a 911 Emergency Communications System, and initiating a county-wide recycling program. He also helped create the Onondaga County Public Library System, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, the Center for Forensic Sciences, and the County’s Veteran’s Cemetery. Mr. Pirro was elected by his peers to serve as President of the New York State Association of Counties for 2000-01.
Michael Solomon is a municipal finance professional having provided investment banking and advisory services to state and local governments for over 20 years. He is employed in the Public Finance department at Merril Lynch & Co. headquartered in lower Manhattan. In his work for the state of Michigan, he helped to create the nation's first revolving fund program for school construction, which was recognized by the Bond Buyer as the Midwest Deal of the Year for 2007. In addition, Solomon's experience with education includes providing short term funding for the operating budgets on over 400 school districts in Michigan and working with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in developing its new educational funding entity, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which fundamentally transformed how the commonwealth funds its financial support to school districts. Mr. Solomon graduated from SUNY Albany with a degree in Financial Management Systems. He is a native of Oceanside, Long Island and now resides in Bedford, NY.
Merryl H. Tisch has been a member of the New York State Board of Regents since April 1996, and has served as Vice Chancellor of the Board since April 2007. From 1977-1984 she taught first grade at the Ramaz School and Bnail Jeshurun School in New York City. She serves as the New York City Mayor’s appointee to the Commission on the Status of Women and the Mayor’s representative to the Tenement Museum of the City of New York. Regent Tisch also serves UJA-Federation of New York as a member of the Board of Trustees, member of the Executive Committee, member of the Planning and Allocation Committee, and Chair of the Government Relations Committee. She is President of the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Poverty. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College, a Master of Arts degree in Education from New York University and an Ed.D. from Teacher’s College, Columbia University.
Paul A. Tokasz is a partner in the government affairs and media relations firm of Patricia Lynch Associates and the former Majority Leader of the New York State Assembly. Mr. Tokasz has a long and distinguished career of more than three decades in public service. Prior to being appointed Majority Leader, Mr. Tokasz served as Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Arts and Sports Development. Serving in that role from 1997, he proved to be a strong advocate for arts and tourism. He received his Bachelors of Arts Degree in History from Hobart College and furthered his education at Buffalo State College where he obtained his Master's Degree in Education.
Special Advisors to the Commission:
Lisa Donner is the founding Co-Director of the Center for Working Families. Previously, she worked as an organizer for the Service Employees International Union for four years, mostly dedicated to the Justice for Janitors campaign in Washington, DC. Ms. Donner subsequently worked for ACORN for 11 years, first as a Legislative Representative and then in turn as Legislative Director, National Campaign Director, Director of ACORN’s Financial Justice Center, and as ACORN’s National Director of Public Policy. Ms. Donner graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Social Studies.
Elizabeth Lynam is the Deputy Research Director at the Citizens Budget Commission, a non-partisan, nonprofit civic organization devoted to influencing constructive change in the finances and services of New York State and New York City governments. Ms. Lynam covers the New York State and City budgets and other policy issues important to State and local government. She works closely with the media, and has designed and authored studies on local tax relief, reforming New York State’s fiscal practices, Medicaid, special education policy, collective bargaining, and alternatives to incarceration for drug offenders. Prior to the Citizens Budget Commission, Ms. Lynam was the Deputy Director of the Office of Special Education Initiatives at the New York City Department of Education, where she helped manage the transformation of the way special education services are delivered in New York City public schools. She received her BS from Cornell University and an M.S. in Urban Policy and Management from the New School University.
Karen Scharff has served as the Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York since 1984. Citizen Action is a statewide grassroots organization that empowers New Yorkers to fight for social, economic and racial justice, with a focus on policy change at the state level. She was one of the founders of the Alliance for Quality Education, and she co-chairs AQE’s statewide board. Ms. Scharff chairs the Steering Committee of the Coalition for After-School Funding, which was founded in 2000 to advocate for increased state and federal resources for after school programs. She co-chairs the Policy Committee of the New York State After School Network, and serves on NYSAN’s Steering Committee. Ms. Scharff graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Harvard University in 1979.
Robert B. Ward is Deputy Director/Director of Fiscal Studies for the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. He is author of New York State Government: Second Edition, published by the Rockefeller Institute Press; and of The $163 Lightbulb: How Albany’s Mandates Drive Up Your Local Taxes, published by the Public Policy Institute of New York State. Ward has previously served as Director of Research for the Public Policy Institute of New York State/the Business Council of New York State; and as Assistant to the Chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. He is a founding member of Parents For Excellence, a parents group in the Bethlehem Central School District. A graduate of Syracuse University, Mr.Ward lives in Delmar.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Long Islanders Favor Higher Density
Smart Growth Seeps Into Suburbia, But Apparently, Not In Hempstead Town
A recent study by the Long Island Index -- the folks who study things like this -- reveals that a majority of LIers favor higher density, particularly as part and parcel of the redevlopment of "downtown."
61% of those surveyed, in fact, think high-density housing in our downtown areas is a good thing.
And in a region where single-family houses were said to be sacrosanct, even the idea of the typical suburban scene -- a Levitt home on a 60' by 100' lot, surrounded by a white picket fence -- is giving way to that new suburban mindset of more rental units, more housing in downtown areas, and taller buildings along 'Main Street.'
In fact, the forward-looking trend, and not only among housing experts and Smart Growth advocates, is that, in order to maintain our suburban quality of life, and keep Long Island economically sustainable, there must be "...inclusionary zoning, which would require that a share of new housing construction be sold at prices that are affordable to low, moderate or middle-income individuals; incentives to municipalities to zone for higher density housing, a share of which would be for moderate/middle income households; and transit-oriented development, in which transportation agencies, housing agencies and municipalities cooperate to create new residential or mixed-use communities around train stations and other transit facilities."
Not new ideas, certainly, but surely those whose time have finally come, at least as far as Long Island homeowners are concerned.
Of course, not everyone is so inclined to move Long Island into the 20th century, let alone the 21st.
Take the Supervisor and Town Board in Hempstead Town (PLEASE!), where being stuck in the 1950s has become the favorite pasttime of local officials.
In the Town of Hempstead, density (other than as the cerebral affliction suffered by the members of the Town Board), is viewed entirely as a negative, even in instances where the community favors density as a tool for redevelopment.
Last Tuesday, for instance, the Town Board, in its infinite lack of wisdom, and stubborn adherence to the old and failed, turned down the request of the West Hempstead community for the private sale of a no-tell motel to a developer who would have built upscale apartment units (saying the proposal was "too dense"), in favor of the adoption of an "Urban" Renewal plan (we thought this was suburbia) that was scorned by local civic associations, community leaders, and Smart Growth advocates alike.
Leaving aside the very real question of "whatever happened to representative government?" [In Hempstead Town? Who's kidding whom?], there's the substantive issue of what is truly in the community's -- and Long Island's -- best interest.
Walter Ejnes, a longtime West Hempstead resident and a member of the West Hempstead Civic Association's Executive Board, expressed dismay over the Town Board's decision -- one which we would say was based on ignorance (both of the facts, and of the will of the people).
Said Ejnes:
"Talk about perfect timing. The unfortunate result of the town board clearly shows that our leaders are not only out of touch with the community's wishes, but also out of touch with the economic development experts on Long Isand. Many of you may have read or heard about the report that came out today on the Housing situation on LI. The report is prepared annually by the Long Island Index, which is made up of LI's top economists and economic development professionals.
"The 2008 report was released just this morning and the focus of this year's report is that Long Islander's want to see changes in the zoning laws to allow higher densities to allow for apartments. While we often talk about our young professionals, the most striking surprise was that the Baby Boomers showed the most support for this concept as they see apartments and rentals as a viable option to stay on LI. It makes sense as they could sell their homes, rent and avoid the high taxes that come with ownership."
Here is an excerpt from the Long Island Index report's recommendations:
Young residents share the goals of their parents’ generation; they hope to own a large single-family home in a suburban setting where homes are spaced apart and offer privacy. They also acknowledge that this goal will be hard to attain and may be willing to entertain some alternative routes to attain this goals, including life in an apartment or condo in a local downtown area. The young generation may leave or stay on Long Island; they were almost equally likely to think they might move locally or out of the area in the next five years. Much will depend on their financial ability to meet housing costs. Unfortunately, they are also especially pessimistic about Long Island’s future, a bad sign for the area’s future vibrancy. In contrast, there is evidence that older Long Islanders, likely empty nesters, are interested in downsizing, perhaps as a way to capitalize on the value of a large single family home.
Baby boomers and seniors express an interest in alternative housing and in living in walkable neighborhoods. A sizeable number of baby boomers can also imagine living in a condo or apartment downtown. This demonstrates a willingness to change. Unfortunately, baby boomers are also seriously contemplating leaving Long Island. This reflects a concern over high taxes and the possible departure of family members. But it also seems like a situation that could be addressed through local development and the creation of more affordable, alternative housing solutions that carry a lighter tax load. Baby boomers have equity in their homes and will spend that on housing somewhere. Why not on Long Island? These findings provide much fuel for thought about the future direction of local development.
Why not Long Island, indeed!
Clearly, Long Islanders are beginning to understand that affordable housing, increased density (particularly in or near downtown business districts), and keeping folks on the Island, rather than forcing them to move away by reason of high property taxes and low housing options, is our salvation, not suburbia's ruin.
Too bad that local officials the likes of Hempstead Town's Kate Murray just can't see the forest for the few trees we have left here.
Perhaps that's why America's largest township has been turned into America's most blighted township (with Hempstead Town having the blight studies to prove it), and why, when those few remaining trees do fall on Long Island, there may no longer be anyone around to hear them!
- - -
Click HERE to read the Newsday story, Long Islanders would trade houses for apartments.
- - -
From the Editorial page of Newsday:
Time is right to build up downtowns
The people are way ahead of the politicians, again.
A new survey by the Long Island Index shows that people are now more receptive to downtown living - including taller buildings and even multistory parking garages - as an alternative to sprawl. Yet most village mayors and town supervisors have failed to embrace the obvious: The only way we can grow is up.
Our traditional, single-family-home model of growth, one that now includes 85 percent of Long Islanders, is no longer sustainable. Housing costs are so high that young people are leaving at rates that will deprive us of the future workforce we need to keep our economy humming. Property taxes are through the roof. And we're running out of land.
"We have an ocean telling us to find some other way," said Ann Golob, the Index project director, at the report's unveiling yesterday at Farmingdale State College. And the former mayor of Greenport, David Kapell, added: "For a real solution to emerge, we need to think vertically in a big way." Unfortunately, few mayors - Paul Pontieri of Patchogue is a notable exception - see it that way.
Too many local politicians view density and height as the untouchable third rails of land-use planning, and there are some loud voices in the community that encourage that sort of fear-think. But the Index survey shows that half of Long Islanders now favor raising building heights in downtown from two to four stories, to allow for apartments above stores. That's a 10-point increase in that attitude since 2004.
It's clear: Young Long Islanders want vibrant downtowns with affordable rental units. If we don't listen and get it done, we're waving goodbye to our future.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
A recent study by the Long Island Index -- the folks who study things like this -- reveals that a majority of LIers favor higher density, particularly as part and parcel of the redevlopment of "downtown."
61% of those surveyed, in fact, think high-density housing in our downtown areas is a good thing.
And in a region where single-family houses were said to be sacrosanct, even the idea of the typical suburban scene -- a Levitt home on a 60' by 100' lot, surrounded by a white picket fence -- is giving way to that new suburban mindset of more rental units, more housing in downtown areas, and taller buildings along 'Main Street.'
In fact, the forward-looking trend, and not only among housing experts and Smart Growth advocates, is that, in order to maintain our suburban quality of life, and keep Long Island economically sustainable, there must be "...inclusionary zoning, which would require that a share of new housing construction be sold at prices that are affordable to low, moderate or middle-income individuals; incentives to municipalities to zone for higher density housing, a share of which would be for moderate/middle income households; and transit-oriented development, in which transportation agencies, housing agencies and municipalities cooperate to create new residential or mixed-use communities around train stations and other transit facilities."
Not new ideas, certainly, but surely those whose time have finally come, at least as far as Long Island homeowners are concerned.
Of course, not everyone is so inclined to move Long Island into the 20th century, let alone the 21st.
Take the Supervisor and Town Board in Hempstead Town (PLEASE!), where being stuck in the 1950s has become the favorite pasttime of local officials.
In the Town of Hempstead, density (other than as the cerebral affliction suffered by the members of the Town Board), is viewed entirely as a negative, even in instances where the community favors density as a tool for redevelopment.
Last Tuesday, for instance, the Town Board, in its infinite lack of wisdom, and stubborn adherence to the old and failed, turned down the request of the West Hempstead community for the private sale of a no-tell motel to a developer who would have built upscale apartment units (saying the proposal was "too dense"), in favor of the adoption of an "Urban" Renewal plan (we thought this was suburbia) that was scorned by local civic associations, community leaders, and Smart Growth advocates alike.
Leaving aside the very real question of "whatever happened to representative government?" [In Hempstead Town? Who's kidding whom?], there's the substantive issue of what is truly in the community's -- and Long Island's -- best interest.
Walter Ejnes, a longtime West Hempstead resident and a member of the West Hempstead Civic Association's Executive Board, expressed dismay over the Town Board's decision -- one which we would say was based on ignorance (both of the facts, and of the will of the people).
Said Ejnes:
"Talk about perfect timing. The unfortunate result of the town board clearly shows that our leaders are not only out of touch with the community's wishes, but also out of touch with the economic development experts on Long Isand. Many of you may have read or heard about the report that came out today on the Housing situation on LI. The report is prepared annually by the Long Island Index, which is made up of LI's top economists and economic development professionals.
"The 2008 report was released just this morning and the focus of this year's report is that Long Islander's want to see changes in the zoning laws to allow higher densities to allow for apartments. While we often talk about our young professionals, the most striking surprise was that the Baby Boomers showed the most support for this concept as they see apartments and rentals as a viable option to stay on LI. It makes sense as they could sell their homes, rent and avoid the high taxes that come with ownership."
Here is an excerpt from the Long Island Index report's recommendations:
Young residents share the goals of their parents’ generation; they hope to own a large single-family home in a suburban setting where homes are spaced apart and offer privacy. They also acknowledge that this goal will be hard to attain and may be willing to entertain some alternative routes to attain this goals, including life in an apartment or condo in a local downtown area. The young generation may leave or stay on Long Island; they were almost equally likely to think they might move locally or out of the area in the next five years. Much will depend on their financial ability to meet housing costs. Unfortunately, they are also especially pessimistic about Long Island’s future, a bad sign for the area’s future vibrancy. In contrast, there is evidence that older Long Islanders, likely empty nesters, are interested in downsizing, perhaps as a way to capitalize on the value of a large single family home.
Baby boomers and seniors express an interest in alternative housing and in living in walkable neighborhoods. A sizeable number of baby boomers can also imagine living in a condo or apartment downtown. This demonstrates a willingness to change. Unfortunately, baby boomers are also seriously contemplating leaving Long Island. This reflects a concern over high taxes and the possible departure of family members. But it also seems like a situation that could be addressed through local development and the creation of more affordable, alternative housing solutions that carry a lighter tax load. Baby boomers have equity in their homes and will spend that on housing somewhere. Why not on Long Island? These findings provide much fuel for thought about the future direction of local development.
Why not Long Island, indeed!
Clearly, Long Islanders are beginning to understand that affordable housing, increased density (particularly in or near downtown business districts), and keeping folks on the Island, rather than forcing them to move away by reason of high property taxes and low housing options, is our salvation, not suburbia's ruin.
Too bad that local officials the likes of Hempstead Town's Kate Murray just can't see the forest for the few trees we have left here.
Perhaps that's why America's largest township has been turned into America's most blighted township (with Hempstead Town having the blight studies to prove it), and why, when those few remaining trees do fall on Long Island, there may no longer be anyone around to hear them!
- - -
Click HERE to read the Newsday story, Long Islanders would trade houses for apartments.
- - -
From the Editorial page of Newsday:
Time is right to build up downtowns
The people are way ahead of the politicians, again.
A new survey by the Long Island Index shows that people are now more receptive to downtown living - including taller buildings and even multistory parking garages - as an alternative to sprawl. Yet most village mayors and town supervisors have failed to embrace the obvious: The only way we can grow is up.
Our traditional, single-family-home model of growth, one that now includes 85 percent of Long Islanders, is no longer sustainable. Housing costs are so high that young people are leaving at rates that will deprive us of the future workforce we need to keep our economy humming. Property taxes are through the roof. And we're running out of land.
"We have an ocean telling us to find some other way," said Ann Golob, the Index project director, at the report's unveiling yesterday at Farmingdale State College. And the former mayor of Greenport, David Kapell, added: "For a real solution to emerge, we need to think vertically in a big way." Unfortunately, few mayors - Paul Pontieri of Patchogue is a notable exception - see it that way.
Too many local politicians view density and height as the untouchable third rails of land-use planning, and there are some loud voices in the community that encourage that sort of fear-think. But the Index survey shows that half of Long Islanders now favor raising building heights in downtown from two to four stories, to allow for apartments above stores. That's a 10-point increase in that attitude since 2004.
It's clear: Young Long Islanders want vibrant downtowns with affordable rental units. If we don't listen and get it done, we're waving goodbye to our future.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Lament Of A Special District Commissioner
Perks, Bennies, Pay-Days, And Dinner At Morton's Could Soon Be A Thing Of The Past
A down-and-out Max Bialistock of The Producers fame would shamelessy croon, "I used to be the King, the King of old Broadway."
That was, until he lost it all.
Here on Long Island, where there are more commissioner-operated special taxing districts -- and accordingly, more abuse of the taxpayer -- the beneficiaries of the patronage mill may well be singing a similar tune.
"I used to be the Commissioner, the Commissioner of Sanitary District 1. But now they've taken my pay and perks, and it looks as though I'm done!"
Woe would be the commissioners of New York's infamous special taxing districts if two measures proposed by Governor Eliot Spitzer gain support in and passage through the NYS Legislature.
The first calls for all special district commissioners to serve without compensation (as do library board trustees and school board members).
No more 15 "meetings" per month at $100 a pop per non-appearing commish. Off with the orthodonture for the commissioner's wife. Gone to the all-expenses-paid junkets to Vegas, the gratuitous golf outings, the lifetime health care, and the $700 taxpayer-paid steak dinners.
The second proposal, aimed solely at the sanitation districts, turns operations, but for what type of service will be provided, over to the local townships; the towns, historically, having provided the service, contemporaneously with the special districts, of equal quality, and at less expense to John Q. Public.
The sanitary districts would continue to exist, at least on paper, although commissioners, serving as volunteers (that means no pay, no benefits, and no taxpayer-funded vacations, folks), would decide things like whether your trash will be picked up at the curb or at the back door, and not whether to use tax dollars for expensive SUVs, life insurance policies, or winters in Florida under the thinly veiled guise of attendance at conferences.
If all of this sounds a note or two of familiarity, it should. The Community Alliance has been calling for Albany to reign in the special taxing districts going on three years now, ever since Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson brought the abuses of these self-serving fiefdoms to the fore in 2005.
The Governor's proposals come in advance of the findings of the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency & Competitiveness, due out in April.
Not looking to steal the Commission's thunder (clearly, the measures proferred come out of the workings of the Commission), the Governor seeks to take the lead in putting the measures to the Legislature, rather than waiting for the Legislature to act on its own.
Great move, Mr. Spitzer! If New Yorkers wait for legislative initiative on the infamous special districts, they'll be paying through the nose for a long, long time to come.
Unlikely that any such measure would make it out of committee to the Assembly floor, lest Speaker Silver was feeling particularly magnanimous, and the GOP-controlled Senate is already lining up in a Nancy Reaganesque parade of "Just Say No" to anything that might actually loosen the political patronage grip at home -- that which they so humbly allude to as "local control."
Of course, it would behoove the members of New York's State Legislature to move these measures, and to do so quickly and without partisan rancor.
After all, the public's patience with paying more than the neighbors pay for like services, and for special district commissioners (and their families) who rake it in on the public dole while the taxpayer gets raked over the coals, has all but worn thin.
The public cry here should be -- no, must be -- "Pass the Governor's proposals to reign in the special districts, or we'll pass on your re-election bid come November." [Every seat in the NYS Legislature is up for graps in '08. They need your votes. We know it. They know it.]
Before the State Legislature this session will be many tough decisions. Among them, how to close a $4.4 billion gap, slash pork-barrel spending, equitably and adequately fund public education, and, yes, put a lid on runaway school property taxes.
That's a plate full, and then some.
As for the Governor's proposals to have the special district commissioners serve gratis, and to turn the operations and taxing authority of the sanitary districts over to the towns, well, DUH, that's practically a no-brainer -- even for our State Legislators, zions of dysfunction, and masters of form over substance, be they.
Folks, 2008 is our year. The opportunity to save millions in taxpayer dollars. Yes, millions. The chance to change the status quo, and change it so that rather than continue to permit the few to pick the pockets of the many, we create a system of parity, accountability, and transparency.
Giving the people what they want. Saving the taxpayer real money. Eliminating waste. Consolidating services.
Now that's what we call, "local control!"
- - -
From Newsday:
Spitzer proposes to streamline special districts
BY SANDRA PEDDIE
sandra.peddie@newsday.com
Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to recommend in his budget message today that all pay and benefits for more than 130 commissioners who oversee special districts in Nassau and Suffolk counties be eliminated, county and state officials said yesterday. Spitzer also is expected to propose that towns take over the day-to-day management of one type of special district - sanitary districts, which collect garbage. He is not expected to address other types of special districts today.
The commissioners would remain in place to determine the kind of service offered.
Both recommendations, which are fraught with political implications because special districts are seen as patronage mills, need state legislation before being enacted. Although state officials did not estimate the cost savings, payroll records obtained by Newsday show that eliminating commissioners' salaries alone would save taxpayers - mostly in Nassau - at least $1 million a year. Eliminating health benefits would save tens of thousands more because commissioners, who work part-time, are eligible for lifetime benefits. Currently, coverage costs a district about $7,000 for an individual and $15,000 for family coverage. Officials who spoke to Newsday yesterday about Spitzer's expected proposal asked not to be identified.
Suozzi applauds proposal
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who has advocated streamlining local governments, said in a statement yesterday he applauded the governor's action.
"Unfortunately, recent stories about some bad apples and abuses cast doubt over the entire system and reform is necessary," he said. Spitzer's proposals follow Newsday stories on the lavish pay, benefits and perks given to commissioners of special districts, the tiny units of government that handle such services as water and garbage pickup in specific areas. Newsday's review of district financial records, obtained last year under the Freedom of Information law, found that a select group of part-time public officials reaped a bonanza in benefits, getting paid to attend golf outings, for example, and garnering lifetime health benefits for themselves and, in many cases, their spouses, too.
Spitzer, who has decried the tax burden imposed by multiple layers of government throughout New York State, established a statewide commission on special districts last year. The commission is due to issue its report April 15. The people who spoke to Newsday about the governor's proposal said the public outcry over pay and benefits in the wake of Newsday's stories persuaded them to act sooner and release these two recommendations early.
For years, the independent special districts have had limited public oversight because they are run by their own boards. They are not required to file reports with the state comptroller, and there are no legal limits on the fringe benefits commissioners may give themselves. Yet they receive an estimated $500 million yearly from taxpayers. Although special districts receive no state funding, the compensation paid to commissioners is permitted by state law, which is why the governor chose to include the recommendations in his budget message, the sources said.
Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, whose office has issued a number of audits critical of spending in special districts, said the recommendations primarily affect Nassau County. Commissioners in special districts outside Long Island do not get paid, he said. By law, fire district commissioners do not receive pay. Nor do library trustees or school board members. By contrast, commissioners of park, water and sewer districts may receive $80 to $100 per diem, a payment for attending a meeting. Sanitation commissioners may earn up to $7,500 a year. These payments make commissioners eligible to earn time in the state pension system.
Suozzi said such a system of pay for some and not for others was unfair.
Jeffrey LoSquadro, president of the Nassau-Suffolk Water Commissioners Association, defended commissioners' work. As for eliminating their pay and benefits, he said, "I think it's going to affect the quality of the people you get serving."
North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, a Democrat, agreed. "If you take away the incentive for being a commissioner, fewer people will apply for these positions, leaving a void that the town will have to fill."
Concern in Hempstead
The recommendation that the towns take over the management of independent sanitary districts probably would have the biggest impact in Hempstead, which has five garbage districts employing more than 500 people. Their budgets total nearly $60 million.
"We're happy that government officials at the county and state level think we do a good job," said Hempstead Town spokesman Michael Deery. "If a community wants us to do the job, we'd be happy to."
However, he added, "We're not going to impose our will on a community."
Weitzman said a town takeover of sanitary districts would save millions of dollars in insurance costs and operating expenses and would lead to greater "transparency" in operations.
Of the governor's recommendations, he said, "This is an important first step."
Salaries, fringe benefits
A Newsday review of salaries found that district commissioners not only get paid but get generous health benefits as well.
A review of financial records revealed exceptionally high salaries in special districts, such as $93,000 for a full-time meter reader in Jericho. Studies show that public-sector salaries on Long Island are on average higher than private-sector salaries.
Special districts provide fringe benefits that go beyond the already generous health benefits given to other public employees. Examples include fully paid braces, cancer coverage and Medi-Gap insurance.
Commissioners and employees of special districts enjoy a variety of perks, ranging from cars to travel and, in one case, a house.
Especially taxing
A special district provides a certain service, such as garbage pickup or water hookup, to a specific geographic area. The first such districts were created after the 1920s and grew as Long Island developed, mostly concentrated in Nassau County.
Long Island has
ABOUT 200 SPECIAL DISTRICTS
MORE THAN 130 COMMISSIONERS
Spitzer's proposals would impact
50 SPECIAL DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS WHO EARNED ABOUT $1 million IN SALARIES IN 2006
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
A down-and-out Max Bialistock of The Producers fame would shamelessy croon, "I used to be the King, the King of old Broadway."
That was, until he lost it all.
Here on Long Island, where there are more commissioner-operated special taxing districts -- and accordingly, more abuse of the taxpayer -- the beneficiaries of the patronage mill may well be singing a similar tune.
"I used to be the Commissioner, the Commissioner of Sanitary District 1. But now they've taken my pay and perks, and it looks as though I'm done!"
Woe would be the commissioners of New York's infamous special taxing districts if two measures proposed by Governor Eliot Spitzer gain support in and passage through the NYS Legislature.
The first calls for all special district commissioners to serve without compensation (as do library board trustees and school board members).
No more 15 "meetings" per month at $100 a pop per non-appearing commish. Off with the orthodonture for the commissioner's wife. Gone to the all-expenses-paid junkets to Vegas, the gratuitous golf outings, the lifetime health care, and the $700 taxpayer-paid steak dinners.
The second proposal, aimed solely at the sanitation districts, turns operations, but for what type of service will be provided, over to the local townships; the towns, historically, having provided the service, contemporaneously with the special districts, of equal quality, and at less expense to John Q. Public.
The sanitary districts would continue to exist, at least on paper, although commissioners, serving as volunteers (that means no pay, no benefits, and no taxpayer-funded vacations, folks), would decide things like whether your trash will be picked up at the curb or at the back door, and not whether to use tax dollars for expensive SUVs, life insurance policies, or winters in Florida under the thinly veiled guise of attendance at conferences.
If all of this sounds a note or two of familiarity, it should. The Community Alliance has been calling for Albany to reign in the special taxing districts going on three years now, ever since Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson brought the abuses of these self-serving fiefdoms to the fore in 2005.
The Governor's proposals come in advance of the findings of the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency & Competitiveness, due out in April.
Not looking to steal the Commission's thunder (clearly, the measures proferred come out of the workings of the Commission), the Governor seeks to take the lead in putting the measures to the Legislature, rather than waiting for the Legislature to act on its own.
Great move, Mr. Spitzer! If New Yorkers wait for legislative initiative on the infamous special districts, they'll be paying through the nose for a long, long time to come.
Unlikely that any such measure would make it out of committee to the Assembly floor, lest Speaker Silver was feeling particularly magnanimous, and the GOP-controlled Senate is already lining up in a Nancy Reaganesque parade of "Just Say No" to anything that might actually loosen the political patronage grip at home -- that which they so humbly allude to as "local control."
Of course, it would behoove the members of New York's State Legislature to move these measures, and to do so quickly and without partisan rancor.
After all, the public's patience with paying more than the neighbors pay for like services, and for special district commissioners (and their families) who rake it in on the public dole while the taxpayer gets raked over the coals, has all but worn thin.
The public cry here should be -- no, must be -- "Pass the Governor's proposals to reign in the special districts, or we'll pass on your re-election bid come November." [Every seat in the NYS Legislature is up for graps in '08. They need your votes. We know it. They know it.]
Before the State Legislature this session will be many tough decisions. Among them, how to close a $4.4 billion gap, slash pork-barrel spending, equitably and adequately fund public education, and, yes, put a lid on runaway school property taxes.
That's a plate full, and then some.
As for the Governor's proposals to have the special district commissioners serve gratis, and to turn the operations and taxing authority of the sanitary districts over to the towns, well, DUH, that's practically a no-brainer -- even for our State Legislators, zions of dysfunction, and masters of form over substance, be they.
Folks, 2008 is our year. The opportunity to save millions in taxpayer dollars. Yes, millions. The chance to change the status quo, and change it so that rather than continue to permit the few to pick the pockets of the many, we create a system of parity, accountability, and transparency.
Giving the people what they want. Saving the taxpayer real money. Eliminating waste. Consolidating services.
Now that's what we call, "local control!"
- - -
CALL, WRITE, OR E-MAIL YOUR STATE SENATOR AND STATE ASSEMBLYMEMBER TODAY!
TELL THEM TO VOTE 'YES' ON THE GOVERNOR'S SPECIAL DISTRICT PROPOSALS.
- - -From Newsday:
Spitzer proposes to streamline special districts
BY SANDRA PEDDIE
sandra.peddie@newsday.com
Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to recommend in his budget message today that all pay and benefits for more than 130 commissioners who oversee special districts in Nassau and Suffolk counties be eliminated, county and state officials said yesterday. Spitzer also is expected to propose that towns take over the day-to-day management of one type of special district - sanitary districts, which collect garbage. He is not expected to address other types of special districts today.
The commissioners would remain in place to determine the kind of service offered.
Both recommendations, which are fraught with political implications because special districts are seen as patronage mills, need state legislation before being enacted. Although state officials did not estimate the cost savings, payroll records obtained by Newsday show that eliminating commissioners' salaries alone would save taxpayers - mostly in Nassau - at least $1 million a year. Eliminating health benefits would save tens of thousands more because commissioners, who work part-time, are eligible for lifetime benefits. Currently, coverage costs a district about $7,000 for an individual and $15,000 for family coverage. Officials who spoke to Newsday yesterday about Spitzer's expected proposal asked not to be identified.
Suozzi applauds proposal
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who has advocated streamlining local governments, said in a statement yesterday he applauded the governor's action.
"Unfortunately, recent stories about some bad apples and abuses cast doubt over the entire system and reform is necessary," he said. Spitzer's proposals follow Newsday stories on the lavish pay, benefits and perks given to commissioners of special districts, the tiny units of government that handle such services as water and garbage pickup in specific areas. Newsday's review of district financial records, obtained last year under the Freedom of Information law, found that a select group of part-time public officials reaped a bonanza in benefits, getting paid to attend golf outings, for example, and garnering lifetime health benefits for themselves and, in many cases, their spouses, too.
Spitzer, who has decried the tax burden imposed by multiple layers of government throughout New York State, established a statewide commission on special districts last year. The commission is due to issue its report April 15. The people who spoke to Newsday about the governor's proposal said the public outcry over pay and benefits in the wake of Newsday's stories persuaded them to act sooner and release these two recommendations early.
For years, the independent special districts have had limited public oversight because they are run by their own boards. They are not required to file reports with the state comptroller, and there are no legal limits on the fringe benefits commissioners may give themselves. Yet they receive an estimated $500 million yearly from taxpayers. Although special districts receive no state funding, the compensation paid to commissioners is permitted by state law, which is why the governor chose to include the recommendations in his budget message, the sources said.
Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, whose office has issued a number of audits critical of spending in special districts, said the recommendations primarily affect Nassau County. Commissioners in special districts outside Long Island do not get paid, he said. By law, fire district commissioners do not receive pay. Nor do library trustees or school board members. By contrast, commissioners of park, water and sewer districts may receive $80 to $100 per diem, a payment for attending a meeting. Sanitation commissioners may earn up to $7,500 a year. These payments make commissioners eligible to earn time in the state pension system.
Suozzi said such a system of pay for some and not for others was unfair.
Jeffrey LoSquadro, president of the Nassau-Suffolk Water Commissioners Association, defended commissioners' work. As for eliminating their pay and benefits, he said, "I think it's going to affect the quality of the people you get serving."
North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, a Democrat, agreed. "If you take away the incentive for being a commissioner, fewer people will apply for these positions, leaving a void that the town will have to fill."
Concern in Hempstead
The recommendation that the towns take over the management of independent sanitary districts probably would have the biggest impact in Hempstead, which has five garbage districts employing more than 500 people. Their budgets total nearly $60 million.
"We're happy that government officials at the county and state level think we do a good job," said Hempstead Town spokesman Michael Deery. "If a community wants us to do the job, we'd be happy to."
However, he added, "We're not going to impose our will on a community."
Weitzman said a town takeover of sanitary districts would save millions of dollars in insurance costs and operating expenses and would lead to greater "transparency" in operations.
Of the governor's recommendations, he said, "This is an important first step."
Salaries, fringe benefits
A Newsday review of salaries found that district commissioners not only get paid but get generous health benefits as well.
A review of financial records revealed exceptionally high salaries in special districts, such as $93,000 for a full-time meter reader in Jericho. Studies show that public-sector salaries on Long Island are on average higher than private-sector salaries.
Special districts provide fringe benefits that go beyond the already generous health benefits given to other public employees. Examples include fully paid braces, cancer coverage and Medi-Gap insurance.
Commissioners and employees of special districts enjoy a variety of perks, ranging from cars to travel and, in one case, a house.
Especially taxing
A special district provides a certain service, such as garbage pickup or water hookup, to a specific geographic area. The first such districts were created after the 1920s and grew as Long Island developed, mostly concentrated in Nassau County.
Long Island has
ABOUT 200 SPECIAL DISTRICTS
MORE THAN 130 COMMISSIONERS
Spitzer's proposals would impact
50 SPECIAL DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS WHO EARNED ABOUT $1 million IN SALARIES IN 2006
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Spitzer To NYers: Less Tax Relief, More Money Filling The Tank
Governor's Proposed Budget Cuts Aid To LI School Districts, And Ups The Price At The Pump
True enough, we have a $4.6 billion gap to close in New York, but if Eliot Spitzer, who delivered his 2008-09 Budget message to the NYS Legislature this afternoon, intends to do that on the taxpayers' backs, without slashing spending by any significant level, he'll not only remain widely unpopular, he'll drive even more of us off Long Island and out of New York.
A smaller STAR rebate (for whatever that is worth). Less State Aid to our local school districts. An increase in the gasoline tax (at a time when this tax should be cut).
The bottom line is that even modest increases in taxes, coupled with decreases in aid to school districts and still no real property tax relief, is too much, particularly when much of New York, including Long Island and economically devastated upstate, are attempting to stave off the effects of an apparent recession.
New Yorkers understand the need for belt-tightening, and making sacrifices. We've been doing both for years. Unfortunately, from what we see in the Governor's 2008-09 proposed budget, Mr. Spitzer doesn't understand that the fiscal restraint and give-backs have to start in Albany.
So far, there's not all that much to cheer about in the State capital. Let's hope that the Legislature, in its upcoming review and revision of the budget, can restore school aid, hold new taxes and fees at bay, and, at long last, actually do something to cut the property tax.
As for cutting spending -- in a legislative election year, no less -- well, just don't hold your breath!
- - -
From The New York Times:
Spitzer Proposes New Taxes and Fees
By DANNY HAKIM
ALBANY—Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed an array of new taxes and fees, $1 billion in health care cuts and scaled back plans for new education aid and property tax relief in his second executive budget.
The governor’s budget, which was unveiled Tuesday, came on a day when the Federal Reserve dramatically cut interest rates to stave off increasingly gloomy economic conditions in the United States that sent global markets plummeting over the weekend.
“Like every other state in the nation, New York is feeling the effects of a serious economic downturn requiring us to make tough decisions necessary to continue moving our state in the right direction,” the governor wrote in a message included with his budget presentation.
With the state facing a projected $4.4 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year — which begins on April 1 — the governor proposed a spending increase of 5 percent, the lowest proposed spending increase in an executive budget in several years. That said, it was one that critics said was not sharp enough given the worsening economic conditions. Further, the governor called for an increase of nearly 1 percent in the state workforce, bringing the number of workers over 200,000.
And there will likely be pressure from the Legislature to increase spending further — as there always is — in a year when all 212 lawmakers are up for re-election and Republicans will be fighting to hold their slim majority in the Senate.
Of particular sensitivity will be $738 million in proposed new taxes and fees, though there is no broadly based income tax increase. Among the new measures were modest increases in everything from taxes on gasoline and malt liquor to increases in fees the state charges for home purchases above $175,000 and steps aimed at increases in taxes paid by out-of-state residents who work or do business in New York.
The administration said it was not raising taxes, but closing loopholes, though a number of their steps will likely be felt by consumers. Among them was a plan to reclassify Health Maintenance Organizations so they are taxed as insurers, a move that will cost H.M.O.’s more than $200 million a year and presumably be passed on to patients.
Republicans in the Senate particularly objected to proposed cutbacks in the School Tax Relief, or STAR, program, which sends money back to homeowners to modestly offset their property taxes. The state had committed to return $1.8 billion to property taxpayers this year; that will be scaled back to $1.25 billion.
“This budget once again is an assault on suburban families, in terms of education, in terms of property tax relief, in terms of health care and in terms of economic development and job creation,” said Tom Dunham, a spokesman for Senator Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican and the deputy majority leader of the Senate. “He obviously didn’t learn his lesson last year.”
Over all, the $124.3 billion budget — including federal matching funds — increases spending by 5 percent. The governor is proposing $980 million in Medicaid and other health care cuts, in part by changing the way the state reimburses for care to emphasize preventative care and by making changes in the way it does bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals.
The Spitzer administration is also seeking to reap $1.35 billion in savings by ordering agencies to pare 5 percent from their budgets, including by closing some facilities and taking steps to lower energy use.
The governor proposed a $1.46 billion increase in education aid, bringing total education spending to $21 billion. But his aid plan is scaled back from what he had outlined last year; New York City schools will likely see a $100 million reduction in expected operating aid under the plan, though an increase from last year. Aid set aside by Senate Republicans for Long Island will also be reduced in the plan, a move sure to spark a fight with the Legislature.
Edmund J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a conservative group, said, “I don’t think 5 to 6 percent growth qualifies as an austere response — it doesn’t qualify as belt tightening; it’s more like throat clearing.
“Spending is still increasing at an unsustainable level. We’re dealing with it one year at a time and hoping for the best in the future.”
Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, said: “Everyone recognizes this is a very difficult year budget wise.
“While there will definitely be interest groups kicking and screaming about their particular subject areas, the important thing to recognize is there are difficult choices to be made and the governor has struck a good balance.”
2008 The New York Times Company
True enough, we have a $4.6 billion gap to close in New York, but if Eliot Spitzer, who delivered his 2008-09 Budget message to the NYS Legislature this afternoon, intends to do that on the taxpayers' backs, without slashing spending by any significant level, he'll not only remain widely unpopular, he'll drive even more of us off Long Island and out of New York.
A smaller STAR rebate (for whatever that is worth). Less State Aid to our local school districts. An increase in the gasoline tax (at a time when this tax should be cut).
The bottom line is that even modest increases in taxes, coupled with decreases in aid to school districts and still no real property tax relief, is too much, particularly when much of New York, including Long Island and economically devastated upstate, are attempting to stave off the effects of an apparent recession.
New Yorkers understand the need for belt-tightening, and making sacrifices. We've been doing both for years. Unfortunately, from what we see in the Governor's 2008-09 proposed budget, Mr. Spitzer doesn't understand that the fiscal restraint and give-backs have to start in Albany.
So far, there's not all that much to cheer about in the State capital. Let's hope that the Legislature, in its upcoming review and revision of the budget, can restore school aid, hold new taxes and fees at bay, and, at long last, actually do something to cut the property tax.
As for cutting spending -- in a legislative election year, no less -- well, just don't hold your breath!
- - -
From The New York Times:
Spitzer Proposes New Taxes and Fees
By DANNY HAKIM
ALBANY—Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed an array of new taxes and fees, $1 billion in health care cuts and scaled back plans for new education aid and property tax relief in his second executive budget.
The governor’s budget, which was unveiled Tuesday, came on a day when the Federal Reserve dramatically cut interest rates to stave off increasingly gloomy economic conditions in the United States that sent global markets plummeting over the weekend.
“Like every other state in the nation, New York is feeling the effects of a serious economic downturn requiring us to make tough decisions necessary to continue moving our state in the right direction,” the governor wrote in a message included with his budget presentation.
With the state facing a projected $4.4 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year — which begins on April 1 — the governor proposed a spending increase of 5 percent, the lowest proposed spending increase in an executive budget in several years. That said, it was one that critics said was not sharp enough given the worsening economic conditions. Further, the governor called for an increase of nearly 1 percent in the state workforce, bringing the number of workers over 200,000.
And there will likely be pressure from the Legislature to increase spending further — as there always is — in a year when all 212 lawmakers are up for re-election and Republicans will be fighting to hold their slim majority in the Senate.
Of particular sensitivity will be $738 million in proposed new taxes and fees, though there is no broadly based income tax increase. Among the new measures were modest increases in everything from taxes on gasoline and malt liquor to increases in fees the state charges for home purchases above $175,000 and steps aimed at increases in taxes paid by out-of-state residents who work or do business in New York.
The administration said it was not raising taxes, but closing loopholes, though a number of their steps will likely be felt by consumers. Among them was a plan to reclassify Health Maintenance Organizations so they are taxed as insurers, a move that will cost H.M.O.’s more than $200 million a year and presumably be passed on to patients.
Republicans in the Senate particularly objected to proposed cutbacks in the School Tax Relief, or STAR, program, which sends money back to homeowners to modestly offset their property taxes. The state had committed to return $1.8 billion to property taxpayers this year; that will be scaled back to $1.25 billion.
“This budget once again is an assault on suburban families, in terms of education, in terms of property tax relief, in terms of health care and in terms of economic development and job creation,” said Tom Dunham, a spokesman for Senator Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican and the deputy majority leader of the Senate. “He obviously didn’t learn his lesson last year.”
Over all, the $124.3 billion budget — including federal matching funds — increases spending by 5 percent. The governor is proposing $980 million in Medicaid and other health care cuts, in part by changing the way the state reimburses for care to emphasize preventative care and by making changes in the way it does bulk purchasing of pharmaceuticals.
The Spitzer administration is also seeking to reap $1.35 billion in savings by ordering agencies to pare 5 percent from their budgets, including by closing some facilities and taking steps to lower energy use.
The governor proposed a $1.46 billion increase in education aid, bringing total education spending to $21 billion. But his aid plan is scaled back from what he had outlined last year; New York City schools will likely see a $100 million reduction in expected operating aid under the plan, though an increase from last year. Aid set aside by Senate Republicans for Long Island will also be reduced in the plan, a move sure to spark a fight with the Legislature.
Edmund J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a conservative group, said, “I don’t think 5 to 6 percent growth qualifies as an austere response — it doesn’t qualify as belt tightening; it’s more like throat clearing.
“Spending is still increasing at an unsustainable level. We’re dealing with it one year at a time and hoping for the best in the future.”
Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, said: “Everyone recognizes this is a very difficult year budget wise.
“While there will definitely be interest groups kicking and screaming about their particular subject areas, the important thing to recognize is there are difficult choices to be made and the governor has struck a good balance.”
2008 The New York Times Company
Will Elmont Rise From The Ruins Of The Argo?
$2.5 Mil Says It Will!
They say you can't buy happiness. But how about the rebirth of a decaying, blighted downtown, and a renaissance for a communty too long on the fringes?
The gateway to Nassau -- or at least a small part of it (that surrounding the all but abandoned Argo movie theater, once a mainstay of a then-thriving Elmont business district) -- stands to take a giant leap into the 21st century, with the infusion of $2.5 million in grant money as secured through the RestoreNY project by State Senator Dean Skelos and Assemblyman Tom Alfano.
The confluence of all levels of government working alongside members of the Elmont community has helped secure an infusion of money that, representing, if not a transformation from blight to beauty (no one expects miracles), then certainly, a step in the right direction.
Kudos go not only to Mssrs. Skelos and Alfano, often called the fairy godmembers of the community for their ability to bring money for revitalization into the areas they represent, but also to Hempstead Town Councilman Ed Ambrosino, and the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development (which Ambrosino co-chairs), for setting the wheels in motion.
With the money soon to be in place for the redevelopment of this 3-acre site (small, but its a start), the big question is (a) will this seed money ($2.5 mil just doesn't go as far as it used to) be used wisely by the Town of Hempstead, which will administer this money, as well as the rest of the State monies totaling $8 million as designated for the revitalization project, and (b) if they build it, will private investors follow suit, bringing both dollars and sense to what in its day was -- and tomorrow could be again -- not only the gateway to Nassau, but the county's pre-eminent showcase.
Sure, $2.5 million can buy a whole trailer load of Victorian-style street lamps, and the lackluster, almost feeble facade "improvements" that the Town of Hempstead has historically passed off as "redevelopment" hasn't demonstrated much in the way of either planning or foresight.
With much at stake here, however -- for both the Elmont community and America's largest township -- the impetus exists to do more than throw down a few blocks of brick pavers.
Indeed, more than ever before, this is Elmont's time. From Belmont Park to the Argo site, revitalization and renewal are in the air.
It behooves the Town of Hempstead to get it right!
- - -
From The Elmont Herald:
ALFANO AND SKELOS ANNOUNCE $2,500,000 GRANT FOR ELMONT
Grant would clean up three acre site for economic development
Elmont received good news from Assemblyman Tom Alfano and Senator Dean Skelos when they secured state funding totaling $2.5 million for a revitalization project in Elmont for the Argo Theater Revitalization Plan. The grant comes from the Restore NY project which encourages rehabilitation and reinvestment in communities and will be used to revitalize a three acre site at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road.
“I could not be more proud to team with Senator Dean Skelos to help deliver the money that is desperately needed for this restoration project,” Assemblyman Alfano stated. “I am especially proud of the effort of the community led by Councilman Ed Ambrosino, the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development and Supervisor Murray in helping jumpstart this initiative in applying for this Restore NY grant. We showed the state just how vital state assistance would be to our community and there is no doubt that this funding will help to bring about a new day and outlook for the gateway to Nassau County – Elmont.”
“This is just the beginning of great things for the Elmont community. Assemblyman Alfano and I are committed to revitalizing Hempstead Turnpike, creating jobs and lowering taxes for homeowners. The work the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development has done has helped us realize this funding,” said Senator Dean Skelos.
“My priority, along with Senator Skelos, is to revitalize and help create jobs for Elmont. Further, when we fund projects like this, it helps bring in new business and raise revenue so that we can cut property taxes,” said Assemblyman Alfano.
The Restore NY is a program designed to encourage economic development and neighborhood growth by providing municipalities with financial assistance for revitalization of commercial and residential properties. For the 2007 round of requests, up to $100 million was available for distribution to various municipalities in accordance with need and importance.
As part of the cooperative effort between and among the different levels of government committed to Elmont revitalization, the Town of Hempstead, as the municipality, made application to the State for the grant. The State is providing the funding and the Town will administer it.
According to Senator Alfano’s office the money is specifically earmarked for the economic development/revitalization of the 3 acre site at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road, referred to as the Argo Theater, and can’t be used by the Town for anything or anywhere else. It will be, of course, imperative that Elmont community members, civic leaders, and the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development diligently participate and monitor the funding and its use.
According to Alfano, Seklos and the governor’s office, the total project’s costs will be $8 million, of which Elmont, through the Town of Hempstead, had asked for $2.5 million to help defray the costs of construction and clean up at the three acre site at the intersection of the Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road. Because of the significance of the town and the proximity to the famed Belmont Park Race Track, the state was compelled to fully fund this project.
They say you can't buy happiness. But how about the rebirth of a decaying, blighted downtown, and a renaissance for a communty too long on the fringes?
The gateway to Nassau -- or at least a small part of it (that surrounding the all but abandoned Argo movie theater, once a mainstay of a then-thriving Elmont business district) -- stands to take a giant leap into the 21st century, with the infusion of $2.5 million in grant money as secured through the RestoreNY project by State Senator Dean Skelos and Assemblyman Tom Alfano.
The confluence of all levels of government working alongside members of the Elmont community has helped secure an infusion of money that, representing, if not a transformation from blight to beauty (no one expects miracles), then certainly, a step in the right direction.
Kudos go not only to Mssrs. Skelos and Alfano, often called the fairy godmembers of the community for their ability to bring money for revitalization into the areas they represent, but also to Hempstead Town Councilman Ed Ambrosino, and the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development (which Ambrosino co-chairs), for setting the wheels in motion.
With the money soon to be in place for the redevelopment of this 3-acre site (small, but its a start), the big question is (a) will this seed money ($2.5 mil just doesn't go as far as it used to) be used wisely by the Town of Hempstead, which will administer this money, as well as the rest of the State monies totaling $8 million as designated for the revitalization project, and (b) if they build it, will private investors follow suit, bringing both dollars and sense to what in its day was -- and tomorrow could be again -- not only the gateway to Nassau, but the county's pre-eminent showcase.
Sure, $2.5 million can buy a whole trailer load of Victorian-style street lamps, and the lackluster, almost feeble facade "improvements" that the Town of Hempstead has historically passed off as "redevelopment" hasn't demonstrated much in the way of either planning or foresight.
With much at stake here, however -- for both the Elmont community and America's largest township -- the impetus exists to do more than throw down a few blocks of brick pavers.
Indeed, more than ever before, this is Elmont's time. From Belmont Park to the Argo site, revitalization and renewal are in the air.
It behooves the Town of Hempstead to get it right!
- - -
From The Elmont Herald:
ALFANO AND SKELOS ANNOUNCE $2,500,000 GRANT FOR ELMONT
Grant would clean up three acre site for economic development
Elmont received good news from Assemblyman Tom Alfano and Senator Dean Skelos when they secured state funding totaling $2.5 million for a revitalization project in Elmont for the Argo Theater Revitalization Plan. The grant comes from the Restore NY project which encourages rehabilitation and reinvestment in communities and will be used to revitalize a three acre site at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road.
“I could not be more proud to team with Senator Dean Skelos to help deliver the money that is desperately needed for this restoration project,” Assemblyman Alfano stated. “I am especially proud of the effort of the community led by Councilman Ed Ambrosino, the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development and Supervisor Murray in helping jumpstart this initiative in applying for this Restore NY grant. We showed the state just how vital state assistance would be to our community and there is no doubt that this funding will help to bring about a new day and outlook for the gateway to Nassau County – Elmont.”
“This is just the beginning of great things for the Elmont community. Assemblyman Alfano and I are committed to revitalizing Hempstead Turnpike, creating jobs and lowering taxes for homeowners. The work the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development has done has helped us realize this funding,” said Senator Dean Skelos.
“My priority, along with Senator Skelos, is to revitalize and help create jobs for Elmont. Further, when we fund projects like this, it helps bring in new business and raise revenue so that we can cut property taxes,” said Assemblyman Alfano.
The Restore NY is a program designed to encourage economic development and neighborhood growth by providing municipalities with financial assistance for revitalization of commercial and residential properties. For the 2007 round of requests, up to $100 million was available for distribution to various municipalities in accordance with need and importance.
As part of the cooperative effort between and among the different levels of government committed to Elmont revitalization, the Town of Hempstead, as the municipality, made application to the State for the grant. The State is providing the funding and the Town will administer it.
According to Senator Alfano’s office the money is specifically earmarked for the economic development/revitalization of the 3 acre site at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road, referred to as the Argo Theater, and can’t be used by the Town for anything or anywhere else. It will be, of course, imperative that Elmont community members, civic leaders, and the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development diligently participate and monitor the funding and its use.
According to Alfano, Seklos and the governor’s office, the total project’s costs will be $8 million, of which Elmont, through the Town of Hempstead, had asked for $2.5 million to help defray the costs of construction and clean up at the three acre site at the intersection of the Hempstead Turnpike and Elmont Road. Because of the significance of the town and the proximity to the famed Belmont Park Race Track, the state was compelled to fully fund this project.
Monday, January 21, 2008
"Thank You, Kate Murray!"
There's A Louse In The House In Hempstead Town
Talk about breaking one's arm while patting oneself on the back.
Has anyone seen those self-serving cable TV spots, where supposed recipients of the Town of Hempstead's paltry few affordable homes profusely thank Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray for building all of those affordable houses we see in America's largest township?
Must be the trailer for a new comedy series, because but for the paltry few affordable houses built by the Town -- what was it, 9 in 2006 and 11 in 2007? -- the Town hasn't made a dent in the dearth of affordable housing, whether designed for ownership, or rental.
And if, as the Town claims, it has built 200 new homes under its so-called Affordable Homes Program, and renovated some 800 rental apartments (in the Village of Hempstead) -- that's renovated, not created -- the numbers pale in comparison to the dramatically increasing need for affordable housing in Hempstead Town, where affordable homes offered for ownership are few, and affordable rentals are all but nil.
Not to say that anyone else at any level of government is doing more -- or even as much. [Perhaps the feds can send us their FEMA trailers, now that they've been given the okay to remove them from the Gulf Coast.] And not to diminish the efforts of the Town in doing what they've done -- its a laudable beginning. But please, stop using (misusing) public money for TV spots praising the Supervisor for, if we view the ad correctly, what would appear to be single-handedly solving the affordable housing crisis.
Frankly, with blunders such as the mold at Archstone (minus 800 rental units, only 10% of which were affordable, by any definition), and follies like the West Hempstead Urban Renewal Plan, there's not all that much for Kate Murray to boast about on the affordable housing front, and even less for residents to be thankful for.
For every one story conspicuously posted on the Town of Hempstead website highlighting the success of the Affordable Homes Program (Grandmother Burned Out Of House Gets Keys To New Affordable Home), there are hundreds of untold stories of seniors, juniors, and in-betweeners who are forced off of Long Island (some of them into the streets) simply because they have no place they can afford to rent, let alone buy.
Yes, Kate is setting the stage for a run as Nassau County Exec in 2009 [Tom, if you're not our United States Senator by then, Nassau needs you to stay at the helm], showcasing -- at our expense -- what she has done, or what she believes she has done, surrounded by adoring (fearful?) kiss-me-Katers who wouldn't dare tell her otherwise.
Fair enough. We won't blame her for taking credit for what she has done right, whether on making Hempstead Town "greener" (or was that just for those who reside in Levittown?) or making a concerted effort to at least plant the seeds for an affordable housing program, albeit with too few houses, and virtually no rentals. [Apparently, Kate doesn't care much for rental units dotting the suburban landscape. That's too bad. We need them; the economics of the new suburbia demands them; and the revitalization of our aging and decaying downtowns requires them as cornerstones of renewal.]
"We are committed to preserving the suburban character of our neighborhoods while we embrace balanced growth to accommodate young families and seniors who want to live here. Hempstead is also redeveloping downtowns to keep business districts vibrant and guard against urban decay," said Supervisor Murray at her recent recoronation.
Committment is one thing, Kate. Actually getting the job done is quite another.
Perhaps when Charles Theofan -- former Long Beach City Manager, then TOH Commissioner of Planning & Economic Development, and now Long Beach City Manager again -- is succeeded at Town Hall [get your resumes in, Levittowners, the nationwide search is underway], we'll see more of a vision -- one that translates into a reality of affordable places to live for our children, our seniors, our workforce, and for you and I, perhaps -- rather than "blight studies" that translate into big bucks for the developers and special interests.
Until that day, hold the balloons, and can the costly TV spots thanking Kate Murray.
- - -
ON OTHER FRONTS:
With the feds giving the tacit nod in favor of a Liquified Natural Gas platform in Long Island Sound, NOW is the time for Governor Spitzer to take a stand against Broadwater.
Click HERE to urge Eliot Spitzer to formally say NO to Broadwater by sending a message to the Governor, courtesy of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, or call Governor Spitzer at 518-474-8390.
The future of Long Island sound calls for a wave of action, not a ripple of silence.
Talk about breaking one's arm while patting oneself on the back.
Has anyone seen those self-serving cable TV spots, where supposed recipients of the Town of Hempstead's paltry few affordable homes profusely thank Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray for building all of those affordable houses we see in America's largest township?
Must be the trailer for a new comedy series, because but for the paltry few affordable houses built by the Town -- what was it, 9 in 2006 and 11 in 2007? -- the Town hasn't made a dent in the dearth of affordable housing, whether designed for ownership, or rental.
And if, as the Town claims, it has built 200 new homes under its so-called Affordable Homes Program, and renovated some 800 rental apartments (in the Village of Hempstead) -- that's renovated, not created -- the numbers pale in comparison to the dramatically increasing need for affordable housing in Hempstead Town, where affordable homes offered for ownership are few, and affordable rentals are all but nil.
Not to say that anyone else at any level of government is doing more -- or even as much. [Perhaps the feds can send us their FEMA trailers, now that they've been given the okay to remove them from the Gulf Coast.] And not to diminish the efforts of the Town in doing what they've done -- its a laudable beginning. But please, stop using (misusing) public money for TV spots praising the Supervisor for, if we view the ad correctly, what would appear to be single-handedly solving the affordable housing crisis.
Frankly, with blunders such as the mold at Archstone (minus 800 rental units, only 10% of which were affordable, by any definition), and follies like the West Hempstead Urban Renewal Plan, there's not all that much for Kate Murray to boast about on the affordable housing front, and even less for residents to be thankful for.
For every one story conspicuously posted on the Town of Hempstead website highlighting the success of the Affordable Homes Program (Grandmother Burned Out Of House Gets Keys To New Affordable Home), there are hundreds of untold stories of seniors, juniors, and in-betweeners who are forced off of Long Island (some of them into the streets) simply because they have no place they can afford to rent, let alone buy.
Yes, Kate is setting the stage for a run as Nassau County Exec in 2009 [Tom, if you're not our United States Senator by then, Nassau needs you to stay at the helm], showcasing -- at our expense -- what she has done, or what she believes she has done, surrounded by adoring (fearful?) kiss-me-Katers who wouldn't dare tell her otherwise.
Fair enough. We won't blame her for taking credit for what she has done right, whether on making Hempstead Town "greener" (or was that just for those who reside in Levittown?) or making a concerted effort to at least plant the seeds for an affordable housing program, albeit with too few houses, and virtually no rentals. [Apparently, Kate doesn't care much for rental units dotting the suburban landscape. That's too bad. We need them; the economics of the new suburbia demands them; and the revitalization of our aging and decaying downtowns requires them as cornerstones of renewal.]
"We are committed to preserving the suburban character of our neighborhoods while we embrace balanced growth to accommodate young families and seniors who want to live here. Hempstead is also redeveloping downtowns to keep business districts vibrant and guard against urban decay," said Supervisor Murray at her recent recoronation.
Committment is one thing, Kate. Actually getting the job done is quite another.
Perhaps when Charles Theofan -- former Long Beach City Manager, then TOH Commissioner of Planning & Economic Development, and now Long Beach City Manager again -- is succeeded at Town Hall [get your resumes in, Levittowners, the nationwide search is underway], we'll see more of a vision -- one that translates into a reality of affordable places to live for our children, our seniors, our workforce, and for you and I, perhaps -- rather than "blight studies" that translate into big bucks for the developers and special interests.
Until that day, hold the balloons, and can the costly TV spots thanking Kate Murray.
- - -
ON OTHER FRONTS:
With the feds giving the tacit nod in favor of a Liquified Natural Gas platform in Long Island Sound, NOW is the time for Governor Spitzer to take a stand against Broadwater.
Click HERE to urge Eliot Spitzer to formally say NO to Broadwater by sending a message to the Governor, courtesy of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, or call Governor Spitzer at 518-474-8390.
The future of Long Island sound calls for a wave of action, not a ripple of silence.
Friday, January 18, 2008
"Did Someone Call Me Shnorrer?"
Counsel For Sanitary District 1 Still Has Gift For Glib
There he goes again!
Learned (in the ways of razzle-dazzle 'em) counsel for Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1, Nat "Extra Trucks To Pick Up The Bread During Passover" Swergold continues to talk up the propriety of paying more for the same service the Town provides, directly, for considerably less. [Guess you could call that, "trash talk!"]
Apparently, Nat has an audience in the Five Towns, or at least the benefit of a deaf-eared electorate that would rather pay top dollar than vote the bums out.
Merge the commissioner-operated special districts into existing Town departments? Take away the benefits afforded to the commissioners, their wives, children, and mothers-in-law? Actually save the taxpayers significant tax dollars?
Are you crazy?
What would folks like Nat Swergold, who depend upon the ignorance and indifference of the ordinary Joe for their meal tickets, do with themselves?
Surely, Nat could be recycled, and put to a higher and better use. [Say as a representative for Wonder Bread during Passover.]
Then again, recycling in the Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1 isn't all Nat Swergold says its cracked up to be, either.
Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, who is a member of the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency & Competitiveness, offers a brilliant solution, sure to save the taxpayer in the wallet and equalize what homeowners and businesses pay for services such as garbage collection: turn the operations over to the towns, leaving in place the districts and their commissioners, who will serve without pay, without benefits, without perks such as expense accounts and cars, and without taxing authority.
In other words, leave the commissioners as mere volunteers (in the true sense of the word), and watch how quickly both the commissioners and their special districts disappear from the face of Long Island.
Meanwhile, residents in places like Sanitary District 1 will continue to cough up taxes to the tune of $928 a year per household -- with residents of Sanitary District 6, where they don't have "back door service", paying even more (an average of $974 a year per household) -- while those who are served directly by the Town of Hempstead Sanitation Department pay an average of $671 per household.
Go figure!
- - -
From The Merrick Herald:
Report trashes special sanit districts
By Mike Caputo
A report recently released by county Comptroller Howard Weitzman revealed that many homeowners are paying more to receive the same services - such as garbage pick-up - as residents in neighboring municipalities.
According to the report, which outlined the economic inequities among the dozens of special districts in Nassau, the tax bills are significantly different within each special district, even if the residents are receiving the same or similar fire, water and sanitation services.
"The purpose of this report was to open people's eyes to the disparity in what residents in Nassau County pay for basically the same services," Weitzman said. "I think we were successful in doing that. People may now be open to the fact that this structure under which they receive municipal services is part of the reason why their tax burden is so high."
Homeowners in Sanitary District 1, which covers the Five Towns and parts of South Valley Stream, pay an average of $928 a year for garbage service, the report said. Although the district provides rear-door garbage pick-up, several other districts in the county provide the same service for a lower cost to the taxpayer, the comptroller's report added.
Homeowners in Merrick and North Merrick pay an average of $671 a year, and receive rear-door garbage pickup from the Town of Hempstead. Nat Swergold, attorney for Sanitary District 1, disagreed with Weitzman's claim that residents are being charged differently for the same services.
"I think [the report] is inaccurate because it mixes apples and oranges," Swergold said. "The type of service, quality and level of service one district provides as compared to another is not a factor that goes into his formula, which is strictly a mathematical formula."
Swergold added that in addition to Sanitary District 1's rear-door pick-up, its unique recycling services are "built in" to the cost. The district's residents are not required to separate recyclables from their garbage. Instead, separation of recyclables is done at the district's facility in Lawrence.
Weitzman pointed out that most Town of North Hempstead districts - town and commissioner-run - use private carters to supply the work, costing less than a municipal workforce. However, Weitzman said that if the municipal workforce must be retained, its district's cost to taxpayers can also be restructured. For example, the Town of Hempstead-run sanitary district (including, but not limited to: Bay Park, Barnum Isle, Bellmore, East Meadow, Harbor Isle, Lido Beach, North Lynbrook and Point Lookout) costs $674 on average to homeowners, while the commissioner-run Sanitary District 6 (comprising Elmont, Franklin Square, Garden City South, Lakeview, Malverne Park, South Floral Park and West Hempstead) charges about $974 per household.
"Because of the structure of the commissioner-run districts, there is no transparency or accountability and they are spending more money," Weitzman said.
New York State stopped forming commissioner-run districts nearly 70 years ago, but many remain in Nassau County.
County Executive Tom Suozzi's mission to cut costs by consolidating special districts created a buzz toward the end of 2007. In September, Suozzi reached a verbal agreement with four municipal-run sewage districts that would merge them with the county's system. Only two of the four districts, Cedarhurst and Glen Cove, have officially signed on. The other two districts, Lawrence and Long Beach, continue to mull over contractual details.
By omitting the word consolidation, Weitzman proposed that the towns take over provisional garbage services, but without eliminating commissioners and districts.
Swergold dispelled Weitzman's notion that merging with the town would cut costs. He said Weitzman did not take tax rates into account when computing the figures. According to Swergold, Sanitary District 1 provides the lowest cost to the residents based on the tax rates.
"Our effort is to provide enhanced recycling, try to preserve our present collection methodology and schedule at no substantial increase in cost to our taxpayers," Swergold said. "I think we have managed to hold the line over the years fairly well."
Comments about this story? Mcaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
©Herald Community 2008
There he goes again!
Learned (in the ways of razzle-dazzle 'em) counsel for Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1, Nat "Extra Trucks To Pick Up The Bread During Passover" Swergold continues to talk up the propriety of paying more for the same service the Town provides, directly, for considerably less. [Guess you could call that, "trash talk!"]
Apparently, Nat has an audience in the Five Towns, or at least the benefit of a deaf-eared electorate that would rather pay top dollar than vote the bums out.
Merge the commissioner-operated special districts into existing Town departments? Take away the benefits afforded to the commissioners, their wives, children, and mothers-in-law? Actually save the taxpayers significant tax dollars?
Are you crazy?
What would folks like Nat Swergold, who depend upon the ignorance and indifference of the ordinary Joe for their meal tickets, do with themselves?
Surely, Nat could be recycled, and put to a higher and better use. [Say as a representative for Wonder Bread during Passover.]
Then again, recycling in the Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1 isn't all Nat Swergold says its cracked up to be, either.
Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, who is a member of the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency & Competitiveness, offers a brilliant solution, sure to save the taxpayer in the wallet and equalize what homeowners and businesses pay for services such as garbage collection: turn the operations over to the towns, leaving in place the districts and their commissioners, who will serve without pay, without benefits, without perks such as expense accounts and cars, and without taxing authority.
In other words, leave the commissioners as mere volunteers (in the true sense of the word), and watch how quickly both the commissioners and their special districts disappear from the face of Long Island.
Meanwhile, residents in places like Sanitary District 1 will continue to cough up taxes to the tune of $928 a year per household -- with residents of Sanitary District 6, where they don't have "back door service", paying even more (an average of $974 a year per household) -- while those who are served directly by the Town of Hempstead Sanitation Department pay an average of $671 per household.
Go figure!
- - -
From The Merrick Herald:
Report trashes special sanit districts
By Mike Caputo
A report recently released by county Comptroller Howard Weitzman revealed that many homeowners are paying more to receive the same services - such as garbage pick-up - as residents in neighboring municipalities.
According to the report, which outlined the economic inequities among the dozens of special districts in Nassau, the tax bills are significantly different within each special district, even if the residents are receiving the same or similar fire, water and sanitation services.
"The purpose of this report was to open people's eyes to the disparity in what residents in Nassau County pay for basically the same services," Weitzman said. "I think we were successful in doing that. People may now be open to the fact that this structure under which they receive municipal services is part of the reason why their tax burden is so high."
Homeowners in Sanitary District 1, which covers the Five Towns and parts of South Valley Stream, pay an average of $928 a year for garbage service, the report said. Although the district provides rear-door garbage pick-up, several other districts in the county provide the same service for a lower cost to the taxpayer, the comptroller's report added.
Homeowners in Merrick and North Merrick pay an average of $671 a year, and receive rear-door garbage pickup from the Town of Hempstead. Nat Swergold, attorney for Sanitary District 1, disagreed with Weitzman's claim that residents are being charged differently for the same services.
"I think [the report] is inaccurate because it mixes apples and oranges," Swergold said. "The type of service, quality and level of service one district provides as compared to another is not a factor that goes into his formula, which is strictly a mathematical formula."
Swergold added that in addition to Sanitary District 1's rear-door pick-up, its unique recycling services are "built in" to the cost. The district's residents are not required to separate recyclables from their garbage. Instead, separation of recyclables is done at the district's facility in Lawrence.
Weitzman pointed out that most Town of North Hempstead districts - town and commissioner-run - use private carters to supply the work, costing less than a municipal workforce. However, Weitzman said that if the municipal workforce must be retained, its district's cost to taxpayers can also be restructured. For example, the Town of Hempstead-run sanitary district (including, but not limited to: Bay Park, Barnum Isle, Bellmore, East Meadow, Harbor Isle, Lido Beach, North Lynbrook and Point Lookout) costs $674 on average to homeowners, while the commissioner-run Sanitary District 6 (comprising Elmont, Franklin Square, Garden City South, Lakeview, Malverne Park, South Floral Park and West Hempstead) charges about $974 per household.
"Because of the structure of the commissioner-run districts, there is no transparency or accountability and they are spending more money," Weitzman said.
New York State stopped forming commissioner-run districts nearly 70 years ago, but many remain in Nassau County.
County Executive Tom Suozzi's mission to cut costs by consolidating special districts created a buzz toward the end of 2007. In September, Suozzi reached a verbal agreement with four municipal-run sewage districts that would merge them with the county's system. Only two of the four districts, Cedarhurst and Glen Cove, have officially signed on. The other two districts, Lawrence and Long Beach, continue to mull over contractual details.
By omitting the word consolidation, Weitzman proposed that the towns take over provisional garbage services, but without eliminating commissioners and districts.
Swergold dispelled Weitzman's notion that merging with the town would cut costs. He said Weitzman did not take tax rates into account when computing the figures. According to Swergold, Sanitary District 1 provides the lowest cost to the residents based on the tax rates.
"Our effort is to provide enhanced recycling, try to preserve our present collection methodology and schedule at no substantial increase in cost to our taxpayers," Swergold said. "I think we have managed to hold the line over the years fairly well."
Comments about this story? Mcaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
©Herald Community 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
"Off With Their Heads!"
Or At Least With Their Microphones
Silence the opposition, loyal or otherwise.
That appears to be the strategy of the new Majority Leader of the Nassau County Legislature, Diane Yatauro, as Joye Brown opines in Newsday.
Frankly, we didn't expect all that much from the Legislator who put the kabash on Nassau's first Poet Laureate, but even we are nonplused by Yatauro's brash dissing of democracy and pitiful trashing of decency -- such as same may exist in that dark abyss known as the Nassau County Legislature.
The antics of our legislative body -- apparently, a body without much of a mind, or, for that matter, a mindset geared toward moving Nassau boldly into the 21st Century -- are many and longstanding. This one, ladies and gents, takes the proverbial cake.
Outrageous. Disgraceful. Un-American, even. Something we'd expect to see happen in the Iranian Parliament -- and, we suppose, in Nassau's answer to the cuckoo's nest, where the insane are blissfully running the asylum.
Abolish the Nassau County Legislature?
We don't know about that. After all, where else would we find such comic relief?
Levity aside, the Nassau County Legislature is capable of making sound decisions -- such as voting in favor of the county takeover of several local sewer districts -- albeit too few, and almost always along party lines.
Then again, even the sewer takeover vote was based solely on political considerations, with no comment permitted, and no debate on the merits. Perhaps the right result, by way of method (madness?) that showed us only the antithesis of open and transparent government.
There are bright and well-intentioned people on both sides of the aisle at the county seat, and even a few seized with vision, poised to inspire, and capable of leadership. [If only wishful thinking could make it so.] Unfortunately, what seems to have risen to the top, at least from early observations, is not the cream, and the people's business is yet again playing second fiddle to a "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right" display of incivility and imprudent political posturing.
Perhaps Diane Yatauro will grow into the role of Majority Leader, and lead in the true spirit of bipartisan cooperation, or at least lead with a measured degree of humility and fairness, as did her predecessor, Judy Jacobs.
If not, and no one else should step up to fill the void and put an end to the charade that passes for government in Mineola, then perhaps we should consider abolition, or, at the very least, term limits.
- - -
Her silencing of Nassau lawmakers speaks volumes
Joye Brown
Abolish the Nassau County Legislature.
Maybe that's harsh.
But, darn it, who could blame anyone for harboring legis-cidal thoughts after yesterday's parody of a business meeting?
It was the first full session of the term, a time for new beginnings; a time when the Legislature's brand new presiding officer, Democratic Legis. Diane Yatauro, could have begun the hard job of restoring dignity to what had become a laughingstock of a branch of local government.
But nooooooo.
Yatauro instead turned into a high-tech version of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.
Off with their mikes!
She didn't say it. She did it, with a flick of a switch.
Legis. Francis X. Becker was criticizing a proposal to have Nassau take over three local sewer districts.
Off with his mike!
"This is a disgrace, this was never done by [former presiding officer] Judy Jacobs," cried Becker, so angry his voice needed no amplification.
Legis. John Ciotti was asking questions about the proposal when Yatauro struck again, complaining he was talking too loudly.
Off with his mike!
"I'm shouting," Ciotti shouted, "because you turned off my microphone; so I could be heard."
Curiously (not), Yatauro cut off only Republican legislators, allowing fellow Democrats to talk and even interrupt other legislators.
But the cutting hardly stopped there.
The county comptroller's office had asked the legislature to put off a decision on the sewer takeover because it needed more financial information.
So did the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a panel overseeing county finances.
So did a group of local residents, armed with 700 signatures they had collected over two days, who said they had just heard about the proposal.
"I can say I have a right to be angry," a woman from East Rockaway told legislators. "This vote is premature ... We just want to know what the plan is."
Meanwhile, Eric Naughton, director of the legislature's independent office of budget review, sat in the chamber's audience, waiting to testify about the proposal's financial impact.
He waited - and was still waiting when Yatauro called the proposal to the floor for a vote.
Republicans voted against it.
The Democratic majority voted, and passed it, just as it had been determined to do before yesterday's session even started.
It didn't matter that legislators - or the public - had questions; that the comptroller and NIFA wanted more financial information; or that the legislature had a budget review office, ready and willing to give lawmakers information.
Nassau needs a functioning legislature and a presiding officer willing to lead it, not silence it.
In the past few months alone, the county has made some boneheaded moves.
It's bonding the cost of millions of dollars in property tax appeal refunds, a move that put Nassau's finances in jeopardy years ago - even as sales tax revenues plummet and its budget grows increasingly tight.
Last week, Nassau reported that lawmakers were stunned to find expensive televisions and other items in their offices at the newly renovated county courthouse building.
Everybody went on record complaining, but not one legislator said, hey, maybe we should take another look at this as finances are tighter now than when we agreed on this thing.That's what legislatures are supposed to do.
But not in Nassau. Last month, the outgoing legislature voted big raises for every elected county official - except themselves, because the county charter bars legislators from raising their own salaries during an ongoing term.
But that may change soon.
"I've been assured that this body is going to vote themselves a raise and change the charter," Legis. Roger Corbin said last month.
That's magnanimous. And a sign of even more outrageousness to come.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Silence the opposition, loyal or otherwise.
That appears to be the strategy of the new Majority Leader of the Nassau County Legislature, Diane Yatauro, as Joye Brown opines in Newsday.
Frankly, we didn't expect all that much from the Legislator who put the kabash on Nassau's first Poet Laureate, but even we are nonplused by Yatauro's brash dissing of democracy and pitiful trashing of decency -- such as same may exist in that dark abyss known as the Nassau County Legislature.
The antics of our legislative body -- apparently, a body without much of a mind, or, for that matter, a mindset geared toward moving Nassau boldly into the 21st Century -- are many and longstanding. This one, ladies and gents, takes the proverbial cake.
Outrageous. Disgraceful. Un-American, even. Something we'd expect to see happen in the Iranian Parliament -- and, we suppose, in Nassau's answer to the cuckoo's nest, where the insane are blissfully running the asylum.
Abolish the Nassau County Legislature?
We don't know about that. After all, where else would we find such comic relief?
Levity aside, the Nassau County Legislature is capable of making sound decisions -- such as voting in favor of the county takeover of several local sewer districts -- albeit too few, and almost always along party lines.
Then again, even the sewer takeover vote was based solely on political considerations, with no comment permitted, and no debate on the merits. Perhaps the right result, by way of method (madness?) that showed us only the antithesis of open and transparent government.
There are bright and well-intentioned people on both sides of the aisle at the county seat, and even a few seized with vision, poised to inspire, and capable of leadership. [If only wishful thinking could make it so.] Unfortunately, what seems to have risen to the top, at least from early observations, is not the cream, and the people's business is yet again playing second fiddle to a "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right" display of incivility and imprudent political posturing.
Perhaps Diane Yatauro will grow into the role of Majority Leader, and lead in the true spirit of bipartisan cooperation, or at least lead with a measured degree of humility and fairness, as did her predecessor, Judy Jacobs.
If not, and no one else should step up to fill the void and put an end to the charade that passes for government in Mineola, then perhaps we should consider abolition, or, at the very least, term limits.
- - -
Her silencing of Nassau lawmakers speaks volumes
Joye Brown
Abolish the Nassau County Legislature.
Maybe that's harsh.
But, darn it, who could blame anyone for harboring legis-cidal thoughts after yesterday's parody of a business meeting?
It was the first full session of the term, a time for new beginnings; a time when the Legislature's brand new presiding officer, Democratic Legis. Diane Yatauro, could have begun the hard job of restoring dignity to what had become a laughingstock of a branch of local government.
But nooooooo.
Yatauro instead turned into a high-tech version of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.
Off with their mikes!
She didn't say it. She did it, with a flick of a switch.
Legis. Francis X. Becker was criticizing a proposal to have Nassau take over three local sewer districts.
Off with his mike!
"This is a disgrace, this was never done by [former presiding officer] Judy Jacobs," cried Becker, so angry his voice needed no amplification.
Legis. John Ciotti was asking questions about the proposal when Yatauro struck again, complaining he was talking too loudly.
Off with his mike!
"I'm shouting," Ciotti shouted, "because you turned off my microphone; so I could be heard."
Curiously (not), Yatauro cut off only Republican legislators, allowing fellow Democrats to talk and even interrupt other legislators.
But the cutting hardly stopped there.
The county comptroller's office had asked the legislature to put off a decision on the sewer takeover because it needed more financial information.
So did the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a panel overseeing county finances.
So did a group of local residents, armed with 700 signatures they had collected over two days, who said they had just heard about the proposal.
"I can say I have a right to be angry," a woman from East Rockaway told legislators. "This vote is premature ... We just want to know what the plan is."
Meanwhile, Eric Naughton, director of the legislature's independent office of budget review, sat in the chamber's audience, waiting to testify about the proposal's financial impact.
He waited - and was still waiting when Yatauro called the proposal to the floor for a vote.
Republicans voted against it.
The Democratic majority voted, and passed it, just as it had been determined to do before yesterday's session even started.
It didn't matter that legislators - or the public - had questions; that the comptroller and NIFA wanted more financial information; or that the legislature had a budget review office, ready and willing to give lawmakers information.
Nassau needs a functioning legislature and a presiding officer willing to lead it, not silence it.
In the past few months alone, the county has made some boneheaded moves.
It's bonding the cost of millions of dollars in property tax appeal refunds, a move that put Nassau's finances in jeopardy years ago - even as sales tax revenues plummet and its budget grows increasingly tight.
Last week, Nassau reported that lawmakers were stunned to find expensive televisions and other items in their offices at the newly renovated county courthouse building.
Everybody went on record complaining, but not one legislator said, hey, maybe we should take another look at this as finances are tighter now than when we agreed on this thing.That's what legislatures are supposed to do.
But not in Nassau. Last month, the outgoing legislature voted big raises for every elected county official - except themselves, because the county charter bars legislators from raising their own salaries during an ongoing term.
But that may change soon.
"I've been assured that this body is going to vote themselves a raise and change the charter," Legis. Roger Corbin said last month.
That's magnanimous. And a sign of even more outrageousness to come.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Broadwater, The Environment, And Human Rights
Feds Give Environmental Okay To LNG Terminal In LI Sound; Local Activists Say, "Not So Fast"
Coming as no surprise from an administration in Washington that told us there were no post-9/11 environmental concerns in lower Manhattan, and "no worries" in the Gulf Coast either before or after hurricane Katrina, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has determined that the proposed Broadwater Liquified Natural Gas terminal -- smack dab in the middle of Long Island Sound -- poses "limited adverse environmental impacts."
Right.
Damn the fish and the fishermen, the recreational boater and the swimmer, the vision and the vistas. Turn our Long Island Sound into the world's largest LNG storage tank, and bring on the super tankers, with all of their hazards and risks.
If the U.S. government gives its stamp of approval, it must be good for us, after all. [And should there be a mishap, or two, there's always FEMA.]
While the Governor of Connecticut has vowed to fight on, and the Nutmeg State's Attorney General posits a lawsuit to overturn FERC's findings, our own Governor, Eliot Spitzer, has yet to take a position, pro or con. [Come on, Eliot. Where is the steamroller when we need it?]
This is no time to play "wait and see" on the future of Long Island Sound.
The time to say NO to Braodwater is NOW!
- - -
From Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Broadwater Energy, a joint venture between Shell Oil and TransCanada, is proposing to build an industrial Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) barge in the open waters of Long Island Sound, approximately 9 miles from Rocky Point.
For years, the Broadwater discussion has focused on protecting our treasured Long Island Sound, water safety, and maritime culture and preserving water-dependent activities like fishing and boating. This Broadwater Forum at the Huntington Cinema Arts Centre will update attendees on the status of the project, but moreover will offer a new human rights perspective on the project sponsor.
Shell Oil has massive LNG operations in Nigeria, where the company continues to degrade the environment, economy, and culture of Niger Delta peoples. Shell is being sued in Manhattan federal court for violating the human rights of Nigerian Nobel Peace Prize nominee Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerians who are now dead.
Learn more about the status of the Broadwater proposal, see video footage of Ken Saro-Wiwa, and hear Lauren Melodia, a representative of the Center for Constitutional Rights (which has filed the lawsuit against Shell Oil), speak on the Saro-Wiwa case.
What:
A Broadwater Forum
Who:
Lauren Melodia, Center for Constitutional Rights
Peter Maniscalco, Renew Community Earth
Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign for the Environment
When:
Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 7:30PM
Where:
The Huntington Cinema Arts Centre 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY www.cinemaartscentre.org
If you care about the Sound, come on out and make some noise at the Broadwater Forum. Together we make a difference!
Coming as no surprise from an administration in Washington that told us there were no post-9/11 environmental concerns in lower Manhattan, and "no worries" in the Gulf Coast either before or after hurricane Katrina, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has determined that the proposed Broadwater Liquified Natural Gas terminal -- smack dab in the middle of Long Island Sound -- poses "limited adverse environmental impacts."
Right.
Damn the fish and the fishermen, the recreational boater and the swimmer, the vision and the vistas. Turn our Long Island Sound into the world's largest LNG storage tank, and bring on the super tankers, with all of their hazards and risks.
If the U.S. government gives its stamp of approval, it must be good for us, after all. [And should there be a mishap, or two, there's always FEMA.]
While the Governor of Connecticut has vowed to fight on, and the Nutmeg State's Attorney General posits a lawsuit to overturn FERC's findings, our own Governor, Eliot Spitzer, has yet to take a position, pro or con. [Come on, Eliot. Where is the steamroller when we need it?]
This is no time to play "wait and see" on the future of Long Island Sound.
The time to say NO to Braodwater is NOW!
- - -
From Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Broadwater Energy, a joint venture between Shell Oil and TransCanada, is proposing to build an industrial Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) barge in the open waters of Long Island Sound, approximately 9 miles from Rocky Point.
For years, the Broadwater discussion has focused on protecting our treasured Long Island Sound, water safety, and maritime culture and preserving water-dependent activities like fishing and boating. This Broadwater Forum at the Huntington Cinema Arts Centre will update attendees on the status of the project, but moreover will offer a new human rights perspective on the project sponsor.
Shell Oil has massive LNG operations in Nigeria, where the company continues to degrade the environment, economy, and culture of Niger Delta peoples. Shell is being sued in Manhattan federal court for violating the human rights of Nigerian Nobel Peace Prize nominee Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerians who are now dead.
Learn more about the status of the Broadwater proposal, see video footage of Ken Saro-Wiwa, and hear Lauren Melodia, a representative of the Center for Constitutional Rights (which has filed the lawsuit against Shell Oil), speak on the Saro-Wiwa case.
What:
A Broadwater Forum
Who:
Lauren Melodia, Center for Constitutional Rights
Peter Maniscalco, Renew Community Earth
Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign for the Environment
When:
Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 7:30PM
Where:
The Huntington Cinema Arts Centre 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY www.cinemaartscentre.org
If you care about the Sound, come on out and make some noise at the Broadwater Forum. Together we make a difference!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
"Back In Motion ~ A Night Of Golden Memories"
CHARITY EVENT TO BREAK THE SILENCE OF OVARIAN CANCER
A fun-filled evening of networking, music, fine food, prizes and nostalgia will take place on April 1, 2008 from 6:00 P.M. – 10 P.M. at the Inn at New Hyde Park. The fundraising event is sponsored by Pro-fusion, home of the Long Island Breakfast Club, a career advocacy organization for mature professionals.
Proceeds will benefit the Center for Hope-Bereavement Services at Schneider Children’s Hospital, and the Rainbow Chimes Early Education Center. According to President & Founder of Long Island Breakfast Club, Valentina Janek, “Not only will this event raise money for two worthwhile agencies; it will honor my dear friend JoAnn Fiorentino-Lucas, the former Delegate Director of the Rainbow Chimes Early Education Center. Importantly, it will also promote awareness of the silent killer, ovarian cancer, which suddenly took her life last year.”
This fundraising event will also honor two significant individuals who contribute to important community work on Long Island: Felice Cantatore, General Manager of The Long Island Press, and Gerard Simonelli, Senior Certified Financial Planner, ARS Financial Services and President of BNI (Business Networking International).
Enjoy and celebrate life with music by The Cavaliers headed by Leo Lucas, lead singer and husband of the late JoAnn Fiorentino-Lucas. The evening, with a theme of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, will also feature a reception, dancing, Silent and Chinese Auctions, exhibits by local merchants, and a chance for neighbors, business professionals and community leaders to meet. Educational packets about the warning signs of ovarian cancer will be distributed.
Long Island residents are invited to participate in a number of ways, including corporate sponsorships, journal ads, prize donations, auction donations and individual ticket sales at $75 per person. Don’t miss the chance to contribute to this worthwhile charity event while enjoying a fabulous evening of entertainment and culinary delights. For more information visit www.pro-fusion.us or e-mail vjanek@optonline.net or call 516-565-3714 or 516-314-8989.
About The Long Island Breakfast Club
This organization provides advocacy, support, career and employment counseling and referrals to prepare mature individuals for productive employment. Our mission is EXPERIENCE COUNTS!
About the Center For Hope-Bereavement Services at Schneider Children’s Hospital
This grief counseling center offers healing, hope, opportunity, perseverance and enlightenment.
About The Rainbow Chimes Early Education Center: Educating Leaders of Tomorrow……Today!
Rainbow Chimes’ mission provides the community with a valuable service with its award winning excellence in early childhood education and care for children six weeks to six years old.
About the Cavaliers
The Cavaliers features five of the most talented vocalists in the business performing great hits of past decades and more; this includes the group’s national #1 1960’s hit, Last Kiss. Leo Lucas, Master of Ceremonies, is known as one of the most entertaining front men in the business today!
About Profusion
Profusion is public relations small business partner serving clients in media relations, event management, internal communications, cause-related and social marketing. (www.pro-fusion.us; vjanek@optonline.net)
A fun-filled evening of networking, music, fine food, prizes and nostalgia will take place on April 1, 2008 from 6:00 P.M. – 10 P.M. at the Inn at New Hyde Park. The fundraising event is sponsored by Pro-fusion, home of the Long Island Breakfast Club, a career advocacy organization for mature professionals.
Proceeds will benefit the Center for Hope-Bereavement Services at Schneider Children’s Hospital, and the Rainbow Chimes Early Education Center. According to President & Founder of Long Island Breakfast Club, Valentina Janek, “Not only will this event raise money for two worthwhile agencies; it will honor my dear friend JoAnn Fiorentino-Lucas, the former Delegate Director of the Rainbow Chimes Early Education Center. Importantly, it will also promote awareness of the silent killer, ovarian cancer, which suddenly took her life last year.”
This fundraising event will also honor two significant individuals who contribute to important community work on Long Island: Felice Cantatore, General Manager of The Long Island Press, and Gerard Simonelli, Senior Certified Financial Planner, ARS Financial Services and President of BNI (Business Networking International).
Enjoy and celebrate life with music by The Cavaliers headed by Leo Lucas, lead singer and husband of the late JoAnn Fiorentino-Lucas. The evening, with a theme of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, will also feature a reception, dancing, Silent and Chinese Auctions, exhibits by local merchants, and a chance for neighbors, business professionals and community leaders to meet. Educational packets about the warning signs of ovarian cancer will be distributed.
Long Island residents are invited to participate in a number of ways, including corporate sponsorships, journal ads, prize donations, auction donations and individual ticket sales at $75 per person. Don’t miss the chance to contribute to this worthwhile charity event while enjoying a fabulous evening of entertainment and culinary delights. For more information visit www.pro-fusion.us or e-mail vjanek@optonline.net or call 516-565-3714 or 516-314-8989.
About The Long Island Breakfast Club
This organization provides advocacy, support, career and employment counseling and referrals to prepare mature individuals for productive employment. Our mission is EXPERIENCE COUNTS!
About the Center For Hope-Bereavement Services at Schneider Children’s Hospital
This grief counseling center offers healing, hope, opportunity, perseverance and enlightenment.
About The Rainbow Chimes Early Education Center: Educating Leaders of Tomorrow……Today!
Rainbow Chimes’ mission provides the community with a valuable service with its award winning excellence in early childhood education and care for children six weeks to six years old.
About the Cavaliers
The Cavaliers features five of the most talented vocalists in the business performing great hits of past decades and more; this includes the group’s national #1 1960’s hit, Last Kiss. Leo Lucas, Master of Ceremonies, is known as one of the most entertaining front men in the business today!
About Profusion
Profusion is public relations small business partner serving clients in media relations, event management, internal communications, cause-related and social marketing. (www.pro-fusion.us; vjanek@optonline.net)
Monday, January 14, 2008
New Twist On "See Something, Say Something"
Public, First Responders, Not Told About Hazardous Waste Riding The Rails On LIRR
With the Dashing Dan seeing the red of rising fares, keeping a keen eye out for suspicious activity, and watching the gap, he may not see what's in that freight train that just passed through the station at breakneck speed on the tracks of the LIRR -- hazardous waste, including, believe it or not, radioactive material.
That's right. Private carriers, using the Long Island Railroad tracks, have been transporting some pretty nasty -- and downright dangerous -- stuff, right through Long Islanders' backyards.
Worse still, no one bothered to tell anyone about it, not even first responders such as local fire and police departments, who would be called to the scene in response to an accident, spill, or other untoward happenstance.
Seems that the LIRR, a part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, practices "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," while it preaches, "If You See Something, Say Something."
Meanwhile, Dashing Dan and those who live, work, and go to school in relative proximity to the LIRR's tracks and facilities face an unknown risk, and first responders are left facing unforeseen perils, all as a result of the railroad's silence.
The "All's Quiet Along The LIRR Right-Of-Way" will change dramatically if a bill introduced in the NYS Assembly by member Tom Alfano, and in the Senate by Kemp Hannon, is passed into law.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Assembly members Rob Walker and Tom McKevitt, would require the LIRR to notify local authorities when freight trains -- whether operated by private companies or otherwise -- that carry hazardous waste and/or radioactive material are in transit.
Amazed that in this day and age, where information is critical to protecting both persons and property, we're still not being alerted to potential dangers and threats (and we don't mean Al Qaeda)?
Frankly, we're not surprised at all, given the proclivity of the MTA to keep secret millions in surplus funds, and to obfuscate the hazards of widening gaps, known to be a concern to the LIRR for years.
We applaud the Alfano-Hannon measure, and urge the State Legislature to give this item immediate consideration and passage.
If Long Island residents are to give glowing reports on the running of this railroad, the buzz should be about improved operations and efficiency, not about the clandestine transport of nukes along the third rail.
Keeping Long Island moving is imperative. Making certain that Long Islanders are safe is paramount.
- - -
Alfano, Hannon, Walker and McKevitt to Railroad Companies- Stop Ignoring Our First Responders!
Assemblyman Tom Alfano and Senator Kemp Hannon announced today legislation S6727 that would mandate that freight train companies carrying hazardous wastes and radioactive materials would have to alert local villages and first responders to the shipments. To date, local villages, fire departments, schools and public facilities are not given the information even though such information is given to county entities. Senator Kemp Hannon is sponsoring the bill in the New York State Senate.
The bill was developed, according to Alfano, in response to train shipments of radioactive materials being shipped through communities without information being provided to localities- more importantly, first responders. Brookhaven National Labs has already shipped thousands of cubic yards of radioactive soils and is poised to begin new shipments. Queens County Borough stopped shipments of the materials years ago until they were briefed and given assurances to the safety precautions and disclosure of information.
“It’s shocking. Villages, and communities are being put in harms way. When our first responders or the MTA don’t know that hazardous waste and radioactive materials are being shipped right through our backyards, they can’t take the precautions they need to if an accident occurs. Our firefighters and first responders are being put at risk for no reason. This bill we’re announcing today will arm them with the information they need to make our communities safe,” said Assemblyman Tom Alfano.
Assemblyman Tom McKevitt noted, “Villages throughout my district are on the front lines in this battle. We need to give our communities the information they need to protect its citizens.”
Senator Kemp Hannon said, “the local villages and fire departments have been kept in the dark as to the transportation of these materials, which can include radioactive soil from Brookhaven, liquid or gas nitrogen, and construction and factory wastes. In the event of an emergency, first responders would not know how to appropriately cope with the situation. This legislation requires all railroads transporting hazardous materials through Nassau and Suffolk Counties to give advance notice to the MTA, local village governments and first responders.”
Assemblyman Rob Walker said, “This is all about notification and safety. The more we know, the better off the community it is in making sure we’re safe.”
Assemblyman Alfano and Senator Hannon were joined at the press conference by Assemblymembers Rob Walker, Tom McKevitt and Mayors Angel Soto, Mayor Dan Petruccio, Mayor Jack Martins and Deputy Mayor Christina Lynch, School Board Trustees Trish Rudd, Dave Fowler, Laura Ferone and Pamela Byer. In addition, Save Our Villages, the New Hyde Park and Stewart Manor Fire Departments as well as residents and parents of local school like Stewart Manor Elementary school were in attendance.
The Alfano-Hannon legislation would mandate that freight train companies must alert local governments and first responders to the shipments of hazardous materials like radioactive soils.
“God forbid there is an accident near a school. Our firefighters would report to the scene not knowing that what is leaking or spilling could not only be hazardous but radioactive. These railroad lines cut through our communities. It’s totally unacceptable that they don’t know and can’t take the precautions they need to be safe. This legislation will ensure our first responders will know what needs to be done and they will be prepared,” said Assemblyman Alfano.
Save Our Villages President Robert Femminella said, “This legislation is extremely important to the people who live along the track line and beyond. We need to have the assurance that our elected officials and first responders know in advance what types of hazardous material is being transported along the rail line. Without this information, in the event of an accident, the outcome for the residents could be catastrophic.”
The Alfano-Hannon legislation is co-sponsored by Assemblyman Rob Walker, Assemblyman Tom McKevitt and Assemblyman Bob Barra.
- - -
Click HERE to read The New York Times article, In Response to M.T.A.'s 'Say Something' Ads, a Glimpse of Modern Fears
With the Dashing Dan seeing the red of rising fares, keeping a keen eye out for suspicious activity, and watching the gap, he may not see what's in that freight train that just passed through the station at breakneck speed on the tracks of the LIRR -- hazardous waste, including, believe it or not, radioactive material.That's right. Private carriers, using the Long Island Railroad tracks, have been transporting some pretty nasty -- and downright dangerous -- stuff, right through Long Islanders' backyards.
Worse still, no one bothered to tell anyone about it, not even first responders such as local fire and police departments, who would be called to the scene in response to an accident, spill, or other untoward happenstance.
Seems that the LIRR, a part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, practices "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," while it preaches, "If You See Something, Say Something."
Meanwhile, Dashing Dan and those who live, work, and go to school in relative proximity to the LIRR's tracks and facilities face an unknown risk, and first responders are left facing unforeseen perils, all as a result of the railroad's silence.
The "All's Quiet Along The LIRR Right-Of-Way" will change dramatically if a bill introduced in the NYS Assembly by member Tom Alfano, and in the Senate by Kemp Hannon, is passed into law.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Assembly members Rob Walker and Tom McKevitt, would require the LIRR to notify local authorities when freight trains -- whether operated by private companies or otherwise -- that carry hazardous waste and/or radioactive material are in transit.
Amazed that in this day and age, where information is critical to protecting both persons and property, we're still not being alerted to potential dangers and threats (and we don't mean Al Qaeda)?
Frankly, we're not surprised at all, given the proclivity of the MTA to keep secret millions in surplus funds, and to obfuscate the hazards of widening gaps, known to be a concern to the LIRR for years.
We applaud the Alfano-Hannon measure, and urge the State Legislature to give this item immediate consideration and passage.
If Long Island residents are to give glowing reports on the running of this railroad, the buzz should be about improved operations and efficiency, not about the clandestine transport of nukes along the third rail.
Keeping Long Island moving is imperative. Making certain that Long Islanders are safe is paramount.
- - -
Alfano, Hannon, Walker and McKevitt to Railroad Companies- Stop Ignoring Our First Responders!
Assemblyman Tom Alfano and Senator Kemp Hannon announced today legislation S6727 that would mandate that freight train companies carrying hazardous wastes and radioactive materials would have to alert local villages and first responders to the shipments. To date, local villages, fire departments, schools and public facilities are not given the information even though such information is given to county entities. Senator Kemp Hannon is sponsoring the bill in the New York State Senate.
The bill was developed, according to Alfano, in response to train shipments of radioactive materials being shipped through communities without information being provided to localities- more importantly, first responders. Brookhaven National Labs has already shipped thousands of cubic yards of radioactive soils and is poised to begin new shipments. Queens County Borough stopped shipments of the materials years ago until they were briefed and given assurances to the safety precautions and disclosure of information.
“It’s shocking. Villages, and communities are being put in harms way. When our first responders or the MTA don’t know that hazardous waste and radioactive materials are being shipped right through our backyards, they can’t take the precautions they need to if an accident occurs. Our firefighters and first responders are being put at risk for no reason. This bill we’re announcing today will arm them with the information they need to make our communities safe,” said Assemblyman Tom Alfano.
Assemblyman Tom McKevitt noted, “Villages throughout my district are on the front lines in this battle. We need to give our communities the information they need to protect its citizens.”
Senator Kemp Hannon said, “the local villages and fire departments have been kept in the dark as to the transportation of these materials, which can include radioactive soil from Brookhaven, liquid or gas nitrogen, and construction and factory wastes. In the event of an emergency, first responders would not know how to appropriately cope with the situation. This legislation requires all railroads transporting hazardous materials through Nassau and Suffolk Counties to give advance notice to the MTA, local village governments and first responders.”
Assemblyman Rob Walker said, “This is all about notification and safety. The more we know, the better off the community it is in making sure we’re safe.”
Assemblyman Alfano and Senator Hannon were joined at the press conference by Assemblymembers Rob Walker, Tom McKevitt and Mayors Angel Soto, Mayor Dan Petruccio, Mayor Jack Martins and Deputy Mayor Christina Lynch, School Board Trustees Trish Rudd, Dave Fowler, Laura Ferone and Pamela Byer. In addition, Save Our Villages, the New Hyde Park and Stewart Manor Fire Departments as well as residents and parents of local school like Stewart Manor Elementary school were in attendance.
The Alfano-Hannon legislation would mandate that freight train companies must alert local governments and first responders to the shipments of hazardous materials like radioactive soils.
“God forbid there is an accident near a school. Our firefighters would report to the scene not knowing that what is leaking or spilling could not only be hazardous but radioactive. These railroad lines cut through our communities. It’s totally unacceptable that they don’t know and can’t take the precautions they need to be safe. This legislation will ensure our first responders will know what needs to be done and they will be prepared,” said Assemblyman Alfano.
Save Our Villages President Robert Femminella said, “This legislation is extremely important to the people who live along the track line and beyond. We need to have the assurance that our elected officials and first responders know in advance what types of hazardous material is being transported along the rail line. Without this information, in the event of an accident, the outcome for the residents could be catastrophic.”
The Alfano-Hannon legislation is co-sponsored by Assemblyman Rob Walker, Assemblyman Tom McKevitt and Assemblyman Bob Barra.
- - -
Click HERE to read The New York Times article, In Response to M.T.A.'s 'Say Something' Ads, a Glimpse of Modern Fears
Friday, January 11, 2008
Taking On The Mount Everest Of The Empire State
Tom Suozzi Gets A Commission To Climb New York's Highest Mountain
As property taxes in New York State -- particularly in Nassau County -- reach new heights, a political climber who sometimes stumbles on the ice and often throws caution to the wind [that would be Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, in case you wondered], has been given the nod by Governor Eliot Spitzer to tackle the mount that threatens to all but avalanche New York's taxpayers.
As the world pays final respects to Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Everest, a new adventurer -- nowhere near as modest as Sir Ed, but standing just as tall -- sets off on a trek no less daunting, and, given the bear traps that the opposition has already set before him, only slightly less treacherous.
Taming the out of control property tax presents a formidable hill to climb for even the most daring and sure-footed among us. Curbing the reckless and wasteful spending; riding roughshod over the multitude of school districts and special taxing districts; taking on the special interests and the madness of the monied elite, let alone the legislatively dysfunctional, in Albany. No easy task. That which is worth doing, and worthy of our pioneering spirit, seldom is.
There are those who say it can't be done, and others -- including yesterday's equivalent of a rotting yak carcass, the well-aged State/Nassau GOP Chair, Joe Mondello (who almost singlehandedly sucked the life-blood out of this county) -- who say that Suozzi isn't the man to do it.
To this, we reply, "It must be done, and Tom Suozzi is just the man to do it!"
Just as there is no Republican or Democratic way to collect garbage (only to tax for it), rescuing New York from where it remains stranded atop the property tax summit should not -- must not -- be further mired in partisanship and political naysaying.
And those who got us into this property tax mess, whether in Albany or Old Westbury, should heed the call to find practical solutions, and join the Suozzi climb. Either that, or don your oxygen masks, head back to the base camp, and get the heck out of the way.
Unlike the unassuming Sir Edmund, Tom Suozzi doesn't set off to climb mountains simply because they are there. No, he climbs them to set himself on top. Humility has never been Tom's strong suit, and, no doubt, the flag he'd plant should he reach the peak will boast a big TRS on it.
That said, the legacy of a Suozzi Summit atop Mount Property Tax would most certainly enure to the benefit of every New York homeowner, and anyone who has ever had to write a check to the Receiver of Taxes.
In the hallowed footsteps of Mallory, Amundsen, and Hillary, Tom Suozzi sets off, spirits high, hopes undashed, to be not the first to try to hurdle the property tax -- that which so many before him have hiked -- but the first to reach that pinnacle of reform so desperately needed in the land of burgeoning tax burdens.
As Tom Suozzi notches his pick axe into that mountainside, it behooves every one of us -- Democrat, Republican, and Independent alike -- to not only cheer him on, but to tow the lines and climb to the mountaintop with him.
Ever upward, Tom Suozzi. Excelsior!
- - -
New task gives Suozzi a chance to show his mettle
BY SID CASSESE AND WILLIAM MURPHY
sid.cassese@newsday.com; william.murphy@newsday.com
In just a few words, Gov. Eliot Spitzer yesterday put his 2006 Democratic primary rival for governor, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, back in the statewide spotlight.
Suozzi's appointment to head a commission to study local property tax relief - announced by Spitzer in his State of the State speech in Albany - will give him another chance to make his mark outside his home base of Nassau County.
But it will also present another risk of failure, observers said."It's a new lease on life for Suozzi," said Arthur Kremer, a former Democratic Assemblyman from Long Beach. "He could make a name for himself, or it could fizzle."
Local Republicans gave a political jeer to the move, noting that Suozzi presides over a county with some of the highest property taxes in the state, and that an alliance with Spitzer could be short-lived.
"The governor gets along with people differently on a day-to-day basis," Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) said. "Not long ago, the governor thought [Comptroller Thomas] DiNapoli was unfit, and now he thinks he's wonderful. So, we'll see."
The chairman of both the state and county GOP, Joseph Mondello, said that putting any Democrat in charge of property tax relief "is like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank."
Patrick Halpin, a Democrat and former Suffolk County executive, called the appointment "redemption" for Suozzi, but said he faces a tough task. Halpin should know: He served one term before losing to Republican Robert F. Gaffney in 1991 in an election in which property taxes were a major issue.
"In order to do this right, you're going to have to upset some very powerful special interests," Halpin said. "Tom will do that. This will be called 'The Suozzi Commission' one day, and a lot of people who never heard of him will get to know his name."
Kremer summed up the sudden change in Suozzi's status, saying, "Three years ago, he couldn't get a seat in the balcony in Albany. Today he was sitting on the floor, in the front row with the governor."
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
As property taxes in New York State -- particularly in Nassau County -- reach new heights, a political climber who sometimes stumbles on the ice and often throws caution to the wind [that would be Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, in case you wondered], has been given the nod by Governor Eliot Spitzer to tackle the mount that threatens to all but avalanche New York's taxpayers.
As the world pays final respects to Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Everest, a new adventurer -- nowhere near as modest as Sir Ed, but standing just as tall -- sets off on a trek no less daunting, and, given the bear traps that the opposition has already set before him, only slightly less treacherous.
Taming the out of control property tax presents a formidable hill to climb for even the most daring and sure-footed among us. Curbing the reckless and wasteful spending; riding roughshod over the multitude of school districts and special taxing districts; taking on the special interests and the madness of the monied elite, let alone the legislatively dysfunctional, in Albany. No easy task. That which is worth doing, and worthy of our pioneering spirit, seldom is.
There are those who say it can't be done, and others -- including yesterday's equivalent of a rotting yak carcass, the well-aged State/Nassau GOP Chair, Joe Mondello (who almost singlehandedly sucked the life-blood out of this county) -- who say that Suozzi isn't the man to do it.
To this, we reply, "It must be done, and Tom Suozzi is just the man to do it!"
Just as there is no Republican or Democratic way to collect garbage (only to tax for it), rescuing New York from where it remains stranded atop the property tax summit should not -- must not -- be further mired in partisanship and political naysaying.
And those who got us into this property tax mess, whether in Albany or Old Westbury, should heed the call to find practical solutions, and join the Suozzi climb. Either that, or don your oxygen masks, head back to the base camp, and get the heck out of the way.
Unlike the unassuming Sir Edmund, Tom Suozzi doesn't set off to climb mountains simply because they are there. No, he climbs them to set himself on top. Humility has never been Tom's strong suit, and, no doubt, the flag he'd plant should he reach the peak will boast a big TRS on it.
That said, the legacy of a Suozzi Summit atop Mount Property Tax would most certainly enure to the benefit of every New York homeowner, and anyone who has ever had to write a check to the Receiver of Taxes.
In the hallowed footsteps of Mallory, Amundsen, and Hillary, Tom Suozzi sets off, spirits high, hopes undashed, to be not the first to try to hurdle the property tax -- that which so many before him have hiked -- but the first to reach that pinnacle of reform so desperately needed in the land of burgeoning tax burdens.
As Tom Suozzi notches his pick axe into that mountainside, it behooves every one of us -- Democrat, Republican, and Independent alike -- to not only cheer him on, but to tow the lines and climb to the mountaintop with him.
Ever upward, Tom Suozzi. Excelsior!
- - -
New task gives Suozzi a chance to show his mettle
BY SID CASSESE AND WILLIAM MURPHY
sid.cassese@newsday.com; william.murphy@newsday.com
In just a few words, Gov. Eliot Spitzer yesterday put his 2006 Democratic primary rival for governor, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, back in the statewide spotlight.
Suozzi's appointment to head a commission to study local property tax relief - announced by Spitzer in his State of the State speech in Albany - will give him another chance to make his mark outside his home base of Nassau County.
But it will also present another risk of failure, observers said."It's a new lease on life for Suozzi," said Arthur Kremer, a former Democratic Assemblyman from Long Beach. "He could make a name for himself, or it could fizzle."
Local Republicans gave a political jeer to the move, noting that Suozzi presides over a county with some of the highest property taxes in the state, and that an alliance with Spitzer could be short-lived.
"The governor gets along with people differently on a day-to-day basis," Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) said. "Not long ago, the governor thought [Comptroller Thomas] DiNapoli was unfit, and now he thinks he's wonderful. So, we'll see."
The chairman of both the state and county GOP, Joseph Mondello, said that putting any Democrat in charge of property tax relief "is like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank."
Patrick Halpin, a Democrat and former Suffolk County executive, called the appointment "redemption" for Suozzi, but said he faces a tough task. Halpin should know: He served one term before losing to Republican Robert F. Gaffney in 1991 in an election in which property taxes were a major issue.
"In order to do this right, you're going to have to upset some very powerful special interests," Halpin said. "Tom will do that. This will be called 'The Suozzi Commission' one day, and a lot of people who never heard of him will get to know his name."
Kremer summed up the sudden change in Suozzi's status, saying, "Three years ago, he couldn't get a seat in the balcony in Albany. Today he was sitting on the floor, in the front row with the governor."
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Can "Good Faith" Lower Property Taxes?
Spitzer's State Of The State Offers Olive Branch, But "Day One" Changes Still Nowhere In Sight
Eliot Spitzer entered the Assembly chamber in Albany to polite applause, but the passion and promise of Day One that echoed in that historic chamber just a short year ago was somehow missing as the Governor delivered his second State of the State address.
On the agenda -- education, health care, the economy (particularly upstate), affordable housing, and, of course, property taxes.
In the latter's cause, the Governor called upon Nassau County Executive, Tom Suozzi, to chair a commission -- hopefully one with teeth -- to examine New York's property tax crisis, and to come up with workable solutions that actually keep more money in the taxpayers' pockets.
Another year, another study? Perhaps this time, there will be a just end to the formidable means.
Here's what Governor Spitzer had to say on the issue that has vexed Long Islanders, perhaps more than any other:
Experience has taught us that we need stronger medicine. A rebate check may temporarily ease the pain, but it doesn’t cure the disease. In the end, it’s a losing game for the taxpayer if the State gives you a rebate check on Monday and then on Tuesday your local government taxes it away.
So here’s what I propose – a bipartisan commission, invested with Moreland Act powers, that will return with three sets of recommendations. First, a package of reforms that gets at the root causes of what is driving taxes so high. This should include a look at unfunded mandates on both school districts and municipalities. Because school district property taxes account for about two-thirds of all property taxes, the commission must also identify ways to maintain our commitment to the highest quality education at a more affordable cost. Second, proposals on how to make our tax relief system fairer to the middle class taxpayer. And third, a proposal for a fair and effective cap – to hold the line on sky-high school district property taxes once and for all.
I have asked Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi to lead this commission. Tom, you have championed this cause for many years, now let us work together to solve it.
Our goal should be proposals that enable responsible districts to stay within the cap and promote the most effective investments in educational quality, constrain districts that would go beyond responsible spending, and ensure that state tax relief is directed to the taxpayers who need it most.
A tax cap is a blunt instrument, but it forces hard choices and discipline when nothing else works. When combined with real reform of unfunded mandates and a blueprint for providing a high quality education at a more affordable cost, a cap will allow us to invest wisely in our schools while achieving the goal of controlling property taxes. Let’s finally get real about property taxes. That is what our taxpayers demand, and that is what we must deliver.
Tom Suozzi set out, years ago, to fix Albany. This work in progress continues.
Now comes an even taller order, to literally fix what's broken in New York -- the way in which we fund public education and provide for local services. For the sake of every one of us, Tom Suozzi must succeed.
Commenting on the Governor's message, the Deputy Majority Leader of the NYS Senate, Dean Skelos, remarked, "I'm still waiting for Day 1 for Long Islanders who are struggling with high property taxes... We need to provide more tax relief in the 2008-09 budget, not just form a group to study it."
We agree with the Senator from Rockville Centre. We're all still waiting, and we need more relief -- and more of an effort -- not just from study groups or commissions, but from the folks who actually have the capacity to move the agenda forward, the members of the New York State Legislature.
You can't fix Albany, reign in property taxes, bolster the status of the State University, provide affordable housing, or rebuild the economy of upstate New York unless the Governor and the Legislature lay aside the petty bickering and the partisan politics in favor of the people's business.
Day One delayed has been, for all intents and purposes, prosperity denied.
The time to move New York forward, and to tackle the tough issues that, until today, have confounded the elected and the electorate alike, is now.
"Join me in good faith," concluded the Governor. "I will meet you with an open hand, an open door, and an open mind. For we will realize this opportunity best if we work together in a spirit of cooperation.
"That is the journey to which we rededicate ourselves. It is a journey I look forward to our making, together."
Well, if nothing else, at least we can look forward to the Legislature renaming the Triborough Bridge in honor of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Maybe...
Eliot Spitzer entered the Assembly chamber in Albany to polite applause, but the passion and promise of Day One that echoed in that historic chamber just a short year ago was somehow missing as the Governor delivered his second State of the State address.
On the agenda -- education, health care, the economy (particularly upstate), affordable housing, and, of course, property taxes.
In the latter's cause, the Governor called upon Nassau County Executive, Tom Suozzi, to chair a commission -- hopefully one with teeth -- to examine New York's property tax crisis, and to come up with workable solutions that actually keep more money in the taxpayers' pockets.
Another year, another study? Perhaps this time, there will be a just end to the formidable means.
Here's what Governor Spitzer had to say on the issue that has vexed Long Islanders, perhaps more than any other:
Experience has taught us that we need stronger medicine. A rebate check may temporarily ease the pain, but it doesn’t cure the disease. In the end, it’s a losing game for the taxpayer if the State gives you a rebate check on Monday and then on Tuesday your local government taxes it away.
So here’s what I propose – a bipartisan commission, invested with Moreland Act powers, that will return with three sets of recommendations. First, a package of reforms that gets at the root causes of what is driving taxes so high. This should include a look at unfunded mandates on both school districts and municipalities. Because school district property taxes account for about two-thirds of all property taxes, the commission must also identify ways to maintain our commitment to the highest quality education at a more affordable cost. Second, proposals on how to make our tax relief system fairer to the middle class taxpayer. And third, a proposal for a fair and effective cap – to hold the line on sky-high school district property taxes once and for all.
I have asked Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi to lead this commission. Tom, you have championed this cause for many years, now let us work together to solve it.
Our goal should be proposals that enable responsible districts to stay within the cap and promote the most effective investments in educational quality, constrain districts that would go beyond responsible spending, and ensure that state tax relief is directed to the taxpayers who need it most.
A tax cap is a blunt instrument, but it forces hard choices and discipline when nothing else works. When combined with real reform of unfunded mandates and a blueprint for providing a high quality education at a more affordable cost, a cap will allow us to invest wisely in our schools while achieving the goal of controlling property taxes. Let’s finally get real about property taxes. That is what our taxpayers demand, and that is what we must deliver.
Tom Suozzi set out, years ago, to fix Albany. This work in progress continues.
Now comes an even taller order, to literally fix what's broken in New York -- the way in which we fund public education and provide for local services. For the sake of every one of us, Tom Suozzi must succeed.
Commenting on the Governor's message, the Deputy Majority Leader of the NYS Senate, Dean Skelos, remarked, "I'm still waiting for Day 1 for Long Islanders who are struggling with high property taxes... We need to provide more tax relief in the 2008-09 budget, not just form a group to study it."
We agree with the Senator from Rockville Centre. We're all still waiting, and we need more relief -- and more of an effort -- not just from study groups or commissions, but from the folks who actually have the capacity to move the agenda forward, the members of the New York State Legislature.
You can't fix Albany, reign in property taxes, bolster the status of the State University, provide affordable housing, or rebuild the economy of upstate New York unless the Governor and the Legislature lay aside the petty bickering and the partisan politics in favor of the people's business.
Day One delayed has been, for all intents and purposes, prosperity denied.
The time to move New York forward, and to tackle the tough issues that, until today, have confounded the elected and the electorate alike, is now.
"Join me in good faith," concluded the Governor. "I will meet you with an open hand, an open door, and an open mind. For we will realize this opportunity best if we work together in a spirit of cooperation.
"That is the journey to which we rededicate ourselves. It is a journey I look forward to our making, together."
Well, if nothing else, at least we can look forward to the Legislature renaming the Triborough Bridge in honor of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Maybe...
Monday, January 07, 2008
STAR Rebate To Double In '08, Triple In '09?
Why Not Let Us Keep The Money In Our Pockets In The First Place?
We've long beleived -- and have posted many times on this blog -- that New York's STAR program is little more than a sham, taking tax money from one pocket while putting it into someone eleses -- usually not ours.
Our local property tax dollars flow out, with no one so much as trying to shore up the leaking dam, with but pennies on the dollar coming back to homeowners by way of a scant rebate.
Pay $12,000 in taxes, get a check in the mail for $300. Get a credit against the school property tax you pay, and watch the school district's tax rate rise to the occasion.
Will doubling or even tripling the STAR rebate lower the property taxes you pay? Of course not. STAR never has, and it never will.
Assuming that the State can find a way to pay for the increased rebates -- not easy with a $4.3 billion hole in the coming budget -- continuing to treat the symptoms while foregoing the opportunity to fashion a cure means that the bottom line on our property tax bills will go up, even as home values go down and the tax base goes elsewhere.
We've long beleived -- and have posted many times on this blog -- that New York's STAR program is little more than a sham, taking tax money from one pocket while putting it into someone eleses -- usually not ours.
Our local property tax dollars flow out, with no one so much as trying to shore up the leaking dam, with but pennies on the dollar coming back to homeowners by way of a scant rebate.
Pay $12,000 in taxes, get a check in the mail for $300. Get a credit against the school property tax you pay, and watch the school district's tax rate rise to the occasion.
Will doubling or even tripling the STAR rebate lower the property taxes you pay? Of course not. STAR never has, and it never will.
Assuming that the State can find a way to pay for the increased rebates -- not easy with a $4.3 billion hole in the coming budget -- continuing to treat the symptoms while foregoing the opportunity to fashion a cure means that the bottom line on our property tax bills will go up, even as home values go down and the tax base goes elsewhere.
Just last year at this time, the Center for Governmental Research, under its then proactive focus arm, New York Matters, issued a comprehensive report on reforming New York's property tax.
In finding that STAR is not the answer -- far from it, in fact -- there was a likening of the STAR program to the temporary relief to "a large dose of fiscal Novocain."
The numbness having warn off (or is it first setting in?), we have two choices to make. We can endure the pain of ever-increasing property taxes, with an occasional shot of Morphine to mask the underlying problem, or we can make it our business -- and that of of elected representatives in Albany -- to, at long last, find a cure for this malady we call the school property tax.
More simply put, we can either go for the cure, or go broke!
- - -
State GOP aims to boost STAR property-tax rebates
BY JAMES T. MADORE
james.madore@newsday.com
ALBANY - Homeowners would see their property-tax rebate checks from the state triple by 2009, and in some instances quadruple, under a proposal from the Senate's Republican majority, according to a letter sent yesterday to Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
The plan to expand the rebate-check component of STAR, the popular School Tax Relief program begun under Gov. George Pataki, would also eliminate the income eligibility requirements instituted last year at Spitzer's behest. It was unclear, however, whether the new application process, which some found cumbersome, would be scrapped as well.
The initiative comes as homeowners on Long Island and elsewhere struggle to pay tax bills that have more than doubled in 10 years, largely due to public school costs. But with a price tag in excess of $3 billion, the plan faces an uphill fight as Spitzer and lawmakers grapple with a projected budget deficit of $4.3 billion for 2008-09.
"I think it's doable if you set your priorities," said Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), deputy majority leader. "We're hoping the governor listens to Long Islanders and other suburban voters for whom the priority is property tax relief."
Skelos, joined by the Island's seven other GOP senators, urged Spitzer, a Democrat, to support larger STAR rebate checks in his State of the State speech next week and his budget proposal Jan. 22. They also warned against repeating last year's spending plan, which, if not amended by lawmakers, would have reduced aid to area schools in favor of those in New York City.
Spitzer aide Errol Cockfield said that last year the governor "proposed and the legislature adopted record increases in property tax relief and school aid, which were targeted to those who needed it most. This year, the governor's budget will be guided by those same priorities" while he works to address the deficit, Cockfield said.
Under the Senate plan, homeowners enrolled in Basic STAR would receive rebate checks this year that are double the 2007 amount, according to knowledgeable sources. Next year's rebate would be triple the 2007 figure. And the prohibition against checks going to households earning more than $250,000 would be lifted.
Seniors enrolled in Enhanced STAR would see their rebates triple this year and quadruple in 2009, compared with the 2007 amount.
Asked to confirm details of the plan, Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Republican Leader Joseph Bruno, would only say, "I can confirm that property tax relief continues to be a top priority." The Assembly Democratic majority declined to comment.
The plan's cost would far exceed the $1.3 billion set aside for last year's rebates.Tom Bergin of the Taxation and Finance Department said applications were mailed to more than 3 million households, with $1.06 billion in checks sent out by Dec. 26. The filing deadline was Dec. 31.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Braces Instead Of Picket Fences
Orthodontics For Wife Of Plainview Water Commish Just One Of Multitude Of Abuses
Different year, same scandalous waste of taxpayer money at the special taxing districts.
While the names and political parties may have changed -- mostly not -- the gall of the commissioners, their spouses, children, and fourth cousins thrice removed, seems to have escalated to new heights, the brazen theft from the public till in broad daylight outdone only by the uncanny and almost laughable attempts of the special district denizens to justify their misdeeds, as well as the continued existence of these mini-monarchies.
To say there is something terribly wrong with the way we provide for and oversee the delivery of essential services -- whether water, sanitation, or fire protection -- is a gross understatement.
The violation of the public trust is reason enough to scrap these fiefdoms, and all who rob the house of John Q. Public under name and color of the special districts.
That our pockets are being picked clean even now, is a more compelling justification for the eradication of the special taxing districts as we know them, the raison d’être for maintaining these vestiges of a bygone era -- local control -- not so much a half truth as it is a thinly veiled guise under which the privileged few may take with abandon from the overtaxed many.
When does it end? As soon as we, the people, clamping our wallets shut, open our mouths and say so!
- - -
Special Districts: The story so far
Since last spring, Newsday has been reporting on the privileges offered to officials and employees of special taxing districts, as well as to appointees to town and county boards.
THE TOWN AND COUNTY BOARDS
APRIL -- Newsday found that more than 100 appointees of various appointed town and county boards, such as Nassau Board of Assessors and the Suffolk OTB, were given free health insurance for part-time work. All but one board later voted to rescind or reduce the benefit. Read full story.
THE SPECIAL DISTRICTS
JULY -- Newsday reported on the Great Neck Park District, one of the many special districts that with scant governmental oversight or attention from residents supply Long Island communities with services such as parks, water and garbage pickup. The story described how the Great Neck Park District provides top-of-the-line amenities like clay tennis courts and a newly renovated water park and pool complex while spending more per resident than any other park district on the island. Read the full story.
DECEMBER -- Newsday detailed how special districts spend thousands of dollars on cars, health benefits and travel for its officials and employees. Two weeks later Newsday further explored the pay and perks given by special districts, compensation that often dwarfs that offered in state and county government. The story told of Robert Graziano, superintendent of the Water Authority of Great Neck North, and his son Gregory, the assistant superintendent. The elder Graziano supervises a staff of just 27 people but in 2006 made $183,283 year -- more than the governor -- while also enjoying use of a car and fully paid medical, dental, vision and pension benefits. His son got $95,700 and an SUV complete with a DVD player. Read the first and second story.
JANUARY 2 -- Newsday focuses on the exceptionally generous health benefits offered by special districts. It tells the story of the Plainview water district board, which voted to retroactively expand its free dental coverage to spouses of employees and its part-time commissioners after the wife of one of its commissioners got herself braces. Read the full story.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Different year, same scandalous waste of taxpayer money at the special taxing districts.
While the names and political parties may have changed -- mostly not -- the gall of the commissioners, their spouses, children, and fourth cousins thrice removed, seems to have escalated to new heights, the brazen theft from the public till in broad daylight outdone only by the uncanny and almost laughable attempts of the special district denizens to justify their misdeeds, as well as the continued existence of these mini-monarchies.
To say there is something terribly wrong with the way we provide for and oversee the delivery of essential services -- whether water, sanitation, or fire protection -- is a gross understatement.
The violation of the public trust is reason enough to scrap these fiefdoms, and all who rob the house of John Q. Public under name and color of the special districts.
That our pockets are being picked clean even now, is a more compelling justification for the eradication of the special taxing districts as we know them, the raison d’être for maintaining these vestiges of a bygone era -- local control -- not so much a half truth as it is a thinly veiled guise under which the privileged few may take with abandon from the overtaxed many.
When does it end? As soon as we, the people, clamping our wallets shut, open our mouths and say so!
- - -
Special Districts: The story so far
Since last spring, Newsday has been reporting on the privileges offered to officials and employees of special taxing districts, as well as to appointees to town and county boards.
THE TOWN AND COUNTY BOARDS
APRIL -- Newsday found that more than 100 appointees of various appointed town and county boards, such as Nassau Board of Assessors and the Suffolk OTB, were given free health insurance for part-time work. All but one board later voted to rescind or reduce the benefit. Read full story.
THE SPECIAL DISTRICTS
JULY -- Newsday reported on the Great Neck Park District, one of the many special districts that with scant governmental oversight or attention from residents supply Long Island communities with services such as parks, water and garbage pickup. The story described how the Great Neck Park District provides top-of-the-line amenities like clay tennis courts and a newly renovated water park and pool complex while spending more per resident than any other park district on the island. Read the full story.
DECEMBER -- Newsday detailed how special districts spend thousands of dollars on cars, health benefits and travel for its officials and employees. Two weeks later Newsday further explored the pay and perks given by special districts, compensation that often dwarfs that offered in state and county government. The story told of Robert Graziano, superintendent of the Water Authority of Great Neck North, and his son Gregory, the assistant superintendent. The elder Graziano supervises a staff of just 27 people but in 2006 made $183,283 year -- more than the governor -- while also enjoying use of a car and fully paid medical, dental, vision and pension benefits. His son got $95,700 and an SUV complete with a DVD player. Read the first and second story.
JANUARY 2 -- Newsday focuses on the exceptionally generous health benefits offered by special districts. It tells the story of the Plainview water district board, which voted to retroactively expand its free dental coverage to spouses of employees and its part-time commissioners after the wife of one of its commissioners got herself braces. Read the full story.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
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