this is not a bash but a middle of the road question/comment

within the alternative area there are two sides

to keep this easy i will discuss one subject

infrastructure - water, sewers, roads, sidewalks

Senders mentions these often and in this thread -  these items have a cost

the cost of these item can be staggering

i would like to know how some the alternative choices will deal with these costs

how does the bonding process - a new tax fit????

how does environment change - for some reason a business sees great value in exit 25a and sets up shop in princetown

this change in environment put a growth stress on rotterdam causing a need for the items mentioned above

the business offers a 50/50 grant for changes in rotterdam as they have suppliers thet would like to relocate also

i hear "no new taxes" mean no new budget line items
not your tax bill will stay at $568.28 or less for your you share of your town tax
as there is no why to deal with police retirement issues based on collective barganing and .....

i agree there must be a change in the individuals selected but i want to know the mechinisms that will be used to hold the line on government costs

eliminate appointed positions - easy
eliminate $32,000 spent by the RIDA on Professional Fees -  

our sewer plant has held the line on costs - some of it is not working - so is that really holding the line on costs - not so easy
equipment to plow the roads
OSHA still limits the number hours a man can drive a truck and the snow according to our demands must be cleaned in a fixed amount of time this makes consolidation difficult

post more hard questions and lets hear the honest answers

candidates may not have direct answers - if they havent served; but thier supporters should supply them with a method

perception, sewers, sidewalks and water all need to addressed

and these are the hard questions for the smallest part of your yearly tax bill

for a bigger impact address Schools and County taxes

choose your fight wisely of you will have 2 more years of what you have now

Quoted from GrahamBonnet

Michael, people like Coke or Pepsi. How many drink RC? Just asking.

          National politics and condition of country - nightmare!

          State politics, disgrace to even acknowledge!

          County politics, sucked the taxpayers dry!

          Local politics, embarrassment!

    No more Coke or Pepsi, time for Mountain Dew!  If the Reps were the salvation, where the HE!! are they, and what are they offering?  You have to run some opposition to the Democraps . . . . .

Quoted from GrahamBonnet

Michael, people like Coke or Pepsi. How many drink RC? Just asking.

What did they drink before Coke replaced it?  Just asking.

I get your point but everything has a shelf life.  To continue with your business analogy, look at businesses like Sears or Eastman Kodak that dominated for 100 years but now are barely hanging on.  Competition, whether in politics or business, is always good for the voter/consumer.  It stimulates change, not inhibits it.

Tippy - the tax burden question won't be solved overnight by anyone.  But the start to fixing it is providing services that are supported by revenues currently being taken in, not spending more each year and expecting the taxpayer to make up the difference.  We've got to identify and estabilsh our priorities.  What's essential?  

As far as infrastructure goes, it's vitally important.  Paying for it is always difficult but it's an investment.  Borrowing money is not always a bad thing - especially when money is cheap.  In fact, it sometimes makes more sense to borrow than to spend money on hand when it comes to capital expenditures - the magnitude of the infrastructure costs usually requires it.  That said, the borrowing costs assumed must fit into the existing budget while something else gives way.  No new taxes is a sign of the times and a necessary step to forcing governments to identify priorities and become more efficient.

think...barriers to entry...Today the political world is controlled by two parties. If you predict that in 10 years there will be several major parties then I would suggest that you place a wager where if you win, everyone here will glorify you. If you lose then make a great contribution to charity. My money says there will be two parties, and if you fracture the conservative coalition further the communistic monolith will never be overcome, and then there will be one. Some think that is what you want, Mike. A bigger, stronger democrap party. You were the only member of your coalition to not get involved or assist conservative candidacies or causes further such causes as of late. If the GOP endorses a slate that you like, will you work to defeat the democraps?

What it boills down to is that there is already a party that stands for the things you believe in but because you want to remain politically correct you insist on calling for a splinter group.

Quoted from GrahamBonnet

think...barriers to entry...Today the political world is controlled by two parties. If you predict that in 10 years there will be several major parties then I would suggest that you place a wager where if you win, everyone here will glorify you. If you lose then make a great contribution to charity. My money says there will be two parties, and if you fracture the conservative coalition further the communistic monolith will never be overcome, and then there will be one. Some think that is what you want, Mike. A bigger, stronger democrap party. You were the only member of your coalition to not get involved or assist conservative candidacies or causes further such causes as of late. If the GOP endorses a slate that you like, will you work to defeat the democraps?

What it boills down to is that there is already a party that stands for the things you believe in but because you want to remain politically correct you insist on calling for a splinter group.

        Graham, you over focus on two parties, one you label as evil, one is the salvation.  In 300 years we have gone from a government for people to a government of special interests, to the brink of financial ruin.  What ever happened to the candidates that work for the people?  They were suppressed by the 2 major parties.  Again, no choices lead to desperation, and with necessity the mother of invention, the third parties are born!  The REPS have three options right now in Rotterdam, endorse ND, endorse BM, or run their own candidate.  If they don't run a candidate, but endorse one of the two, who wold they endorse?  Probably ND for the sole reason that she would be easier to control.  So again you have a candidate working for the party, and not necessarily for the people.  Your passion and loyalty is admired, but you miss the message of what is needed!

BM is a republican. I support BM.

That's 2 of us.

it's not about winning so the other guy doesn't win....it's winning to actually rid both parties of their need to feel responsible to their 'friends' by keeping
things status quo.

1. close senior center take budget and invest it infrastructure.
2. change union contract for employees to pay 50% of their health insurance cost even after retirement.

....the workers must pay 50% of their retirement with a limit for the municipality to pay out.....all union workers,,,,,all contracts......

town/police etc......no fancy wording/footwork......

our legislative/legal begals should be ashamed of the lingo they used to create this monster......the masses are pi$$ed.....

we elect folks that we think are educated and would be able to see the outcome of their law creation but really it just boils down to getting votes
out of the 'feelgood' dumb stupid masses.....WE LET THEM!!! and they know it.....

Rosemary's baby(unions) are the unholy child of this copulation......time to kill it.....

Quoted from Michael

Tippy - the tax burden question won't be solved overnight by anyone.  But the start to fixing it is providing services that are supported by revenues currently being taken in, not spending more each year and expecting the taxpayer to make up the difference.  We've got to identify and estabilsh our priorities.  What's essential?  

As far as infrastructure goes, it's vitally important.  Paying for it is always difficult but it's an investment.  Borrowing money is not always a bad thing - especially when money is cheap.  In fact, it sometimes makes more sense to borrow than to spend money on hand when it comes to capital expenditures - the magnitude of the infrastructure costs usually requires it.  That said, the borrowing costs assumed must fit into the existing budget while something else gives way.  No new taxes is a sign of the times and a necessary step to forcing governments to identify priorities and become more efficient.

so we shuffle the money

what goes what stays

senior center  - out
no staff
no heat no maintiance
another dead building on hamburg
saves us 195,000/yr in cash or less than $18.00 per property in the town not adjusted for assessed value
that gives us money to make a $16,000 payment for a $2.75million dollar note at 6% interest over 30years

now we hear the hamburg street rework will cost us $5.0 million our cost and that number does not include sewers

if we did not have the fignting in town hall and we get a cheap attorney like M.Godlewski we are getting closer  add $130k

and we saved the $200K safety net each year and rolled half of it into our monthly payment we can now borrow 6 million and need 5 million just for the roads
and we have used $420,000 of our yearly budget for the next 30 years

again i support the concept of being conservative but the "marketing" of "no new taxes" can not produce results thus it is false advertising in this towns current state

again "no new taxes" seems to relate to no new added union positions(csea, cops, appointments) and the shuffling of existing monies for efficiency- makes sense -any candidate from any party can do this

but "no new taxes" cannot relate to new taxes in contracted COLA increases, raises, building maintance and inflation
all of which are going to hit us hard given the fed has released $600billion in cash into the money stream to keep our past liabilities cheap

we have only looked at hamburg street and not yet addressed the problems at the sewer plant itself

if i am to cast my vote i dont want retohric i want to see some hard numbers laid out

please bring forth more than a false marketing clause - this clause makes this group no different from those currently in power

again my argument is not with the intent  

Quoted Text

What is COLA?
A COLA payment is an adjustment, based on the cost-of-living index, which will permanently increase your retirement benefit. It is designed to address future inflation as it occurs.

This Year’s COLA Increase
The September 2010 COLA equals 1.2 percent, for a maximum annual increase of $216.00, or $18.00 per month before taxes.

How COLA is Determined
COLA payments equal 50 percent of the cost-of-living index and can be as much as 3 percent, but not less than 1 percent. COLA is calculated on the first $18,000 of your Single Life Allowance benefit or the actual amount of your benefit, if less. Once COLA payments begin, they continue automatically and you will receive an increase each September.

Eligibility
To begin receiving COLA payments, you must be:

•Age 62 or older and retired for five or more years; or
•Age 55 or older and retired for ten or more years (uniformed employees such as police officers, firefighters and correction officers); or
•A disability retiree for five years; or
•The spouse of a deceased retiree receiving a lifetime benefit under an option elected by the retiree at retirement. An eligible spouse is entitled to one-half the COLA amount that would have been paid to the retiree when the retiree would have met the eligibility criteria.
•A beneficiary receiving the accidental death benefit for five or more years on behalf of a deceased Employees’ Retirement System member.
Receiving COLA
You will receive your first COLA increase the month following the month you become eligible. You will receive the prorated portion due for the month you became eligible plus the COLA for the month you receive the payment.

Once you are eligible, you will receive an annual COLA increase each September. We will send you a letter informing you of the amount prior to your September 30th pension payment, when the increase goes into effect.

Wisconsin may be another state but it's really around the corner

that is why both major parties are illegitemate.....they are one of the copulators in the creation of this Rosemary's baby.........
and I agree NNTP could actually be renamed NNCOLA.....ever......it's stupid...it's shortsighted and it prevents forward movement.....

The two party system has failed the american people at all levels. They have become parties of greed and power and special interests. Both parties have lost their grass roots ideology. Both parties have contributed 'equally' to the mess this country is in. Big business has also been allowed by both parties to be influential on what direction this country is headed....as well as unions.
'we the people' seem to have been left out of the equation.

Both parties would like nothing better than to discourage third party candidates. Both parties don't want to let go of the power driven gravy train they are presently enjoying.

Historically, third party candidates are a reflection of the disgruntled citizen. Third party supporters are apparently NOT the sheople who follow along party lines....just because there is a 'd' or a 'r' after their name. They are looking for results. Honest,for the people results!!

It appears that the third party candidates and their supporters are not going away any time too soon. Third party candidate did not evolve out of a vacuum.

The typist was making $37,000?  That is more than the former director made at $34,000 approx.  with a Master's Degreee in Educational Psychology and a long history of experience AND was a former business teacher for Draper High School and did her own secretarial work.  So she saved the town $37,000.  You reps were jerks to throw her out just because your feelings were hurt over a damn sign that you illegally placed on her property. Bwhaawaaa! ROTFLMAO