Quoted from GrahamBonnet

where is the troll?

Eating 4 ounce tubesteaks

Taking it Back

SPD does not determine what its' annual budget is.  The retirmenet incentive will help in the future.

The tax liens helped bail out the City now the economic conditions have changed and the tax leins are a problem.  

The problems are not the contracts but the way in which they are negotiated.  You need a permanent board of arbitrators soi they can make decisions baout emplooyees who do not have the ability to
but you they need independence so they can render completely objective verdicts and not try to make both sides comfortable with their decision.

The lack of any DEM leadership is shocking. No ideas, no plan, refusal to cut anything least they offend their few remaining union supporters. The party is over gentlemen. They can't even close the underused Stockade pool, cut any vehicle abuse or the useless Department of Development. Bring in State Auditors and the Attorney General. Plenty to investigate for months in this DEM cesspool. Even the Gazetto has has enough of the idiotic defenses and know nuthin Mayor/Council.

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Grim financial year faces city New deficit looms; layoffs get consideration
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The city was able to buy its way out of the 2011 deficit, but it’s likely to fall into another hole this year with no more cash on hand for a bailout, the City Council fi nance committee chairman said.
    The city used up almost all of its savings to get out of a $5 million hole at the end of 2011. Now, there’s only $76,000 left. That’s not enough to pay the bills if the city goes into the red again this winter.
    And even if the City Council takes steps now to cut costs, it probably won’t be enough, fi nance Chairman Carl Erikson said.
    “Overall for 2012, we’re going to end up with a deficit,” he said. “Just from what I’ve seen, our expenses are increasing and our revenues are decreasing.”
    Mayor Gary McCarthy continued to say there’s no reason for drastic cuts. He said his plan to get more property owners to buy in Schenectady while enforcing codes and foreclosing on those who don’t pay taxes will eventually bear fruit.
    “It’s really a 24- or 30-month plan,” he said. “I’m going to do the job, and people will look back and say, ‘Wow, he did a good job and this worked out.’ ” Last year, the city’s tax revenue fell short — $3.4 million less than what was anticipated in the 2011 budget. Many other revenues also came in well short of the city’s expectations, and the city ended up collecting just $67.3 million, far below the budget line of $77.3 million. Most city departments cut costs in an attempt to balance out the budget, and they appeared to slash $5.2 million in expenses. But it wasn’t enough — they ended up spending $72.1 million, and Mc-Carthy had to spend almost all of the city’s savings to bridge the gap.
    This year, under the fi rst budget McCarthy created, many revenues were lowered to what he called “more realistic” fi gures.
BIG THREATS
    But there are three possible holes in the budget, adding up to a worst-case scenario of a $4.8 million defi cit.
    The first hole is due to a late policy change. Although the City Council agreed early this year to make the county whole on unpaid property taxes, it didn’t budget for that cost, which could be $1.5 million. The council made last year’s payment early this year — but if the amount of unpaid property taxes remains the same, they must find another $1.5 million to pay the county again at some point this year.
    Also, the 2012 budget estimates that the city will collect $3 million more in taxes than it collected last year.
    This year’s budget also anticipated $400,000 through the sale of foreclosed homes, but that process started slowly and won’t be done in time to sell the houses this year.
    McCarthy acknowledged earlier this year that the city wouldn’t make the $400,000 goal this year.
    Council members already discussed selling city cars to pay the county bill. Now that it’s clear how little the city collected in taxes last year, the tax revenue portion of the 2012 budget is also being called into question.
    Erikson said he doesn’t have confi dence that the city can collect $3 million more in taxes, even though the council hired a collections company for the task.
    “From what I understand, they’re doing a decent job,” he said. “But it was tough to estimate the first year how they’re going to perform because we don’t have a baseline.”
    Finance Commissioner Ismat Alam said the city has had great success in tax collection so far this year, picking up $2 million in overdue taxes. That will go a long way toward helping the city meet its tax collection goal this year.
    Alam said she’s also hoping that city offi cials negotiate their way out of the deficit this year, partly through changes to employee health care. A combined management-employee committee is looking at that, she said: “There are a lot of confidential things going on.”
    And the city will negotiate a sales tax agreement with the county this fall. That could result in a change that helps the city, Alam said, though it’s not clear how long those negotiations would take.
LAYOFF, PENSION ISSUES
    In the meantime, she said, shortterm changes must be made.
    “These are tough times. We have to make decisions,” she said.
    Erikson said layoffs, service cuts and contract negotiations are all on the table. He said he would hold finance committee meetings to focus the City Council on making cuts. Because of the state’s new 2 percent tax cap law, he said, the council can’t use a large tax increase to solve the problem.
    “At the end of the day, you have to cut services. You have a series of really crappy options,” he said. “As a group, we’ve got to come up with: ‘These are the least painful or least detrimental to the city.’ ”
    Councilman Vince Riggi, the only non-Democrat on the council, agreed.
    “We should go over our 2012 budget and see what we can pare back. We can’t go on with business as usual,” he said. “If it’s going to be layoffs, it’s going to be layoffs. Whatever it takes.”
    Erikson wants the unions to agree to benefi t cuts.
    “That seems to me to be the easy one. Everyone keeps their jobs,” he said. “To me, that seems like a really good idea.”
    But in the long term, Erikson said, he wants to lobby the state to substantially reduce the pension system.
    “I don’t see how we can continue to prosper and pay people to work for 25 years and pay them a pension for 40 years and through a little gimmick that pension is 100 percent [of their salary]. That’s unsustainable,” he said.
    Layoffs may be the least likely solution for this year’s fi nancial problems. Republican City Committee Chairman Michael Cuevas, who worked as the city’s corporation counsel under Mayor Frank Duci, said that it would take about a month for employees to use their bumping rights to move downward rather than accepting a layoff. Once layoffs reach the lowest-rung employees, he said the city generally must wait one to two months for the employees to use up their accumulated sick and vacation time. Erikson said it would also take one to two months for council members to agree on specifi c layoffs.
    That means that if they begin now, they would likely save only three to five months of salary and benefi ts per employee. That means they’d have to lay off three or more people to save the costs of one full year’s pay. And layoffs increase the city’s unemployment insurance costs, which must be balanced against the savings. .................>>>>...................>>>>........................>>>>.........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00100&AppName=1

I read this over my morning coffee................I laughed, I cried, I puked...............I cut it out and plan on using it to line the kitty's litter box.............I'd put the council fling-thing here............but I'm too disgusted.....................Mchack is a clown and the others are his apprentices

simply ... amazing .. stupidity

The article should be titled "How We Operate In The Land Of Oz".

Anyone with business sense would have seen what was going on one month into his coronation and made serious cuts/layoffs. Not McCarthy and his 6 DEM running dogs. "Doing a good job?" according to Carl Erickson. WTF! Resign in disgrace if you still have no clue how to budget.

     They all have to go starting with the charity shoppe closer Marion Poterfield this November. The fog has been lifted and everyone knows the sad truth. Total fiscal incompetents in dereliction of duty. Was at a large party and no one can believe these DEM City morons. 20 year olds have more fiscal responsibility. It's the record taxes-stupid. Every time you raise taxes and fees more people stop paying and flee the City. Start closing departments/pools/take back all City vehicles and layoff City Hall lobs.

Quoted Text

  Alam said she’s also hoping that city offi cials negotiate their way out of the deficit this year, partly through changes to employee health care. A combined management-employee committee is looking at that, she said: “There are a lot of confidential things going on.”

Fire her a**.

How about pay cuts......other upstanding cities have done this.....LAND OF OZ ..

FOLLOW THE ARROW IN THE ROAD.......OR    FOLLOW THE YELLER BRICK ROAD...

End the health insurance for the PART TIME city council people!

Give the city dept head 90 days to move INTO the city -- those dept heads NEED to feel the financial PAIN, the financial BURDENS that they force upon the city homeowners.

STOP the code enforcement stuff for incorrect size house numbers and MINOR peeling paint

End the tax exemptions, be they full or partial, be they temporary or permanent, on all the properties downtown (and any other such properties that plex is concerned wtih)

END the "non-profit" status of Proctors because CLEARLY it is NOT a "non-profit"   Non profits are volunteers organizations, like SLOC and Civic Playtors which VOLUNTEERS put on the productions.   A theater which puts on lavish, and expensive, Broadway productions, and forces it's volunteers to pay for volunteering while it's CEO is getting over $200,000 a year pay is clearly NOT a "non-profit"

KILL the Erie Blvd project.   The taxpayers (of which DV is NOT one of them) CANNOT AFFORD IT.   The city is $5 mil in the whole and McC wants to spend city tax dollars on Erie Blvd while he will have layoff people which will mean cuts in services to neighborhoods -- those places where people live and already pay almost the highest taxes in the whole country.   Besides, people do NOT like to drive in traffic jams which is why the state is looking to expand the ability for people to drive to their homes, e.g., the Northway

That's for starters



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Man!  Too bad tomorrow night isn't a council meeting.   Hopefully people won't forget by next week



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Erickson says tax cap is preventing large tax increase from solving problem, wouldn't solve the problem anyway. Needs to look in the mirror to see the problem. McCarthy has a 2 year plan. Metroplex has been working their plan for at least what 10 years? That's gone over real well for the city. Haven't seen the newest council member's name mentioned in any article.

The only plan any of 'em have is to keep telling the schlubs they have a plan, making said schlubs believe so they continue to elect them till eventually they've got enough time in to retire with their public pensions...................................that's their freakin' plan

Quoted from Dirt2

Erickson says tax cap is preventing large tax increase from solving problem, wouldn't solve the problem anyway. Needs to look in the mirror to see the problem. McCarthy has a 2 year plan. Metroplex has been working their plan for at least what 10 years? That's gone over real well for the city. Haven't seen the newest council member's name mentioned in any article.

Erickson's is the problem. He's bemoaning the State cap to stop insane local governments. The DEM morons still don't get it. Every time they raise oppressive taxes and fees LESS revenue comes in. In 36 months McCarthy's plan will work? lol. In 3 months the State will have to take over City finances from these nit wits.

     Everyone is talking about DEM mismanagement, inability to layoff and total dereliction of duty. At the next City Council meeting they must go around the table with ideas to cut $10 MILLION from this bloated City budget. Anyone without an idea should resign in disgrace. Close Department of Development, hiring freeze, end all City vehicles AND all phones, cut every nonprofit 50% ,close all pools except HH, end medical coverage for all part timers including Council, make Proctor's finally pay a fair share PILOT.