http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00102&AppName=1

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CITY BUDGET
    On the budget, Hull described McCarthy’s spending plan as an unrealistic “dream” because it calls for $400,000 to be raised in new revenue by taking abandoned houses and selling them, as well as $300,000 by persuading new homeowners to buy houses whose previous owners weren’t paying taxes.
    This year, the city was able to sell only five buildings, for which it got $34,300. But McCarthy said city employees will step up to meet the goal.
    “It puts forth what I’ll call realistic expectations for revenue,” he said. “It’s really a 24-month plan as we wean ourselves off the sale of the tax liens and start to do these housing programs to bring some stability back to the neighborhoods.”
    The delinquent tax liens used to bring the city millions, but lien buyer ATF is no longer willing to pay more than 60 percent of the value of the city’s liens.
    McCarthy’s budget also calls for new fees and fines in instances of loud parties, frivolous calls for paramedics and other time-consuming behavior.
    “The goal of those is to shift the cost to people who are causing the problems and create some deterrent to it,” McCarthy said.
    Hull said the city must do better with its budget.
    “The reason I got in this was to try to find a way to help people stay in their homes,” he said, criticizing McCarthy’s budget for hiking fees and taxes. Hull has calculated that the average homeowner will see a 4.6 percent increase in taxes and fees, about $92.
    He would meet with city workers to find out “where the waste is” and offer free dinners to those who have the best ideas on how to save the city money.
    He would also set up a task force of business owners and public sector experts from other parts of the state to offer recommendations for the budget. He would build the next budget from zero, the same technique that allowed the city’s school district to save millions this year.
    “You do not build on this year and the request of any department. You start from zero. It makes you rethink things you’re doing rather than building on what you’ve already done,” Hull said. “And then you start as quickly as possible to build your revenues. People are not going to move in as taxes keep going up.”

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McCarthy’s budget also calls for new fees and fines in instances of loud parties, frivolous calls for paramedics and other time-consuming behavior.

How and who determines if the calls are "frivolous"?  What if the person charged with the "frivolous" call disputes it and takes it to court.  Wouldn't the cost of tying up the courts be more costly than the cost of the time consuming behavior?  This is ridiculous.

can't get blood from a stone....who's going to pay their fees when the government pays for their food/heat/rent?????

McCarthy is dangerous. He wants to get money out of sick children and frail elderly with his horrible new EMS tax. After he chases down defaulting taxpayers to the end of the Earth. It's the high taxes stupid. Friends don't let friends vote for Gary McCarthy.

I don't think you can give away abandoned houses let alone sell them. Abandoned houses are money pits at best.

And how much did they spend to sell those five houses for 34K? There has to be a cost somewhere in selling those garbage
heaps. Tear 'em down and be done with it already!

Prosecute the  Tax evaders!

This might explain the condemned house in my neighborhood that suddenly belongs to the city. Are they selling these buildings to the general public, or in packages to slum "investors" from downstate? I know that Albany has a big problem with these "investors", that Trinity Church that started to fall down was someone's "investment". If they could take possession of these properties and sell them, why didn't they do it before this? Sitting vacant, or worse yet, having squatters occupy them, causes properties to go downhill rapidly, to the point where what could've been someone's home has to be demolished. Anyway, if taxes are reasonable, people will buy fixer-uppers to live in without a program. The problem is in most cases the houses are not for sale and in the case of recent foreclosures or abandonments, no one know who own the properties.
Okay, end of that rant. This article shows what I believed to be the case, Roger at least knows something about budgeting. You can't keep passing the same budget with add-ons if the basic budget wasn't sound, you have to start from scratch.
An elderly woman on my street was making "frivolous" 911 calls until her family found out. Should she get a bill? Should you bill people who take an ambulance instead of a cab? If they don't have cab fare, will they have an ambulance bill fare?
The same for loud parties. Suddenly we can do something about this? Why not before? People in Mont Pleasant complained for years.

because they really dont care......which is FINE....the plebs forget that it is NOT up to the government to make us feel good....HOWEVER....WE ALL PAY THE POLICE AND THE JUSTICE.......