Once again you prove that you can't carry on a somewhat intelligent and rational discussion.
DV, are you up for having an intelligent and rational discussion.
Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars thrown at downtown and no private businesses are choosing to open there if they have to pay themselves. The 100% tax exemptions on owners of the downtown properties are very very very highly wealthy--millionaires---are one of the big factors in causing the property and school taxes to be increased on the homeowners. The evidence shows that these homeowners have median HOUSEHOLD incomes of just slightly over $37,000 per year and the tax BILLS often are approaching 30% of their income.
All the spending on downtown is taking virtually all focus off the neighborhoods which is resulting in an ever lower quality of life in the neighborhoods where homeowners and residents are seeing an increase in crime---highest crime rate, and seeing a huge increase in vacant and abandoned properties.
Quality of life? It's getting much too dangerous for children to play outside in their neighborhoods, as indicated by the lockdowns that occur because of shootings and other violent crimes during the day, and murders and rapes in city parks and playgrounds.
The mayor thinks he is going to appear to be giving attention to the neighborhoods by going after code violations. But the absentee owners don't care and are not doing anything and the mayor is NOT sending city workers out to the decrepit houses of the absentee owners to install new porches, fix roofs, etc. Penalties will be assessed perhaps for failing to fix up the properties, but as the absentee slumlords don't fix up the homes, the penalties will simply get added to the tax bill and the absentee owners will hire Popolizio's lawyer to get them out of paying it all (same lawyer who saved Popolizio at the 11th hour from a mortgage delinquency of upwards of $800,000). But the honest owner-occupant homeowner will have it added to the tax bill and will have to pay in order to keep their house. Or they have to fix their house. The mayor is going after STUPID little things like the size of house numbers too--at a time when children are getting murdered in the daylight on city playgrounds.
And then we have the issue of the mayor claiming he is reducing home values by 4%, when that doesn't do anything whatsoever to the value on which people are being taxed. If a homeowner was taxed last year with an assessment value of $100,000, then despite the mayor's "announcement" the homeowner will STILL be taxed at an assessment value of $100,000.
And let's not forget that the evidence proves the mayor is wrong, because the evidence--based on actual sale prices--prove the values of houses are far far below what the mayor claims.
The TAXABLE tax base is plummeting big time causing homeowners to have to pay increased tax BILLS. Homeowners can't sell their homes no matter what. The evidence proves that houses sit on the market for a year, unsold. THe mayor's key to the city program is obviously a failure and he refuses to make public the numbers. The mayor has an obligation to the homeowners in the city to put together a list of all houses for sale IN that program, to state what the assessed value is, what the original asking price is, what the sale price was (if ever sold) and the date listed and the date sold. Then he is also obligated to report to the taxpayers the amount of the mortgage on the houses that sold, i.e., if the house was sold for $50,000 but got a mortgage of $49,000 to supposedly renovate. Taxpayers have a birthright entitlement to know what is getting done with their money. Then IF buyers of these houses are getting the additional mortgages, the current homeowners in the city, i.e, the taxpayers, have an entitlement to see before and after photos and details of the renovations, along with revised appraisals from an appraiser not connected in anyway with the city, we don't want the dems paying off an appraiser to claim a house has increased in value by 100% when it went up really only by 10%.
Can you discuss these issues intelligently DV?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Intelligence for example, has proven to us that the so called revitalization of downtown has not helped the city at all. It was believed that fixing up downtown would lead to people moving into the city, lower taxes, etc.
But as we have seen, the spending of tax dollars on downtown has lead to a declining TAXABLE tax base. And as we have seen, this logic of exempting downtown businesses from having to pay property and school taxes does not mean the city is reducing an amount of spending dollar for dollar in it's budget. Instead, the dems are taking that exempted amount and imposing it on the homeowners most of whom have lower incomes.
And as taxes rise, property values fall because no one wants to buy a house in a city where the tax escrow comprises half the mortgage bill every month.
It's a never ending falling cycle.
Perhaps the uncontrolled wild spending on downtown will help the city in 30, 40 years, but what homeowner is willing to pay 50% of their income in property & taxes? Who wants to buy a house today for $100,000 only to have the house drop in value to $60,000 next year and then if they require a job transfer they should take a losss? A loss all in the name of uncontrolled wild spending on downtown?
How about a total halt to spending any more money downtown, stop the tax exemptions too. Let the businesses support themselves and pay their own taxes.
Why should the homeowners be so heavy burdened?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Improving downtown certainly not the entire answer but before they fixed it - it looked like a ghost town. Now the heavier lift - fixing up the neighborhoods.
Improving downtown certainly not the entire answer but before they fixed it - it looked like a ghost town. Now the heavier lift - fixing up the neighborhoods.
They should have done this in reverse. The neighborhoods should have been fixed up first.....NOBODY LIVES DOWNTOWN!!! There is absolutely no point in fixing up the neighborhoods now. The taxes are so damn high that the folks who live in these neighborhoods can't afford to live there!!! Nor can they even sell a house! The values are plummeting daily!!
Infrastructure, improving the schools, lower the crime rate, cut spending, lower taxes, lower the welfare benefits.....aka....develop a community people are dying to move to.......THEN.....and only do you begin to work on the 2 business blocks in the city!!
The supposed 'ghost town'......is now nothing more than a play ground for the 'select few' to line their pockets while they continue to pay NO taxes coupled with low to no interest loans/grants!!! So the overburdened taxpayers are now living in neighborhoods that are declining, with a substandard school system, runaway crime, crumbling infrastructure and taxes as one of the highest in the country.....OMG!!!
NOPE.....downtown should have been last on the list of priorities!! They did it all a$$ backwards!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Improving downtown certainly not the entire answer but before they fixed it - it looked like a ghost town. Now the heavier lift - fixing up the neighborhoods.
It should have been targeted by the code enforcers at that time.
The government has no business invoking corporate welfare.
Downtown would have ended up with dozens of small tax paying businesses as the properties were sold off.
The homeowners paid for downtown remodeling and new corporations dozens of times already and no end in sight.
Remember Center city and Canal Square?
The taxpaying beaten to death homeowners sure do.
Screw MVP, DOT and the other corporate welfare cases downtown.
Try looking out for the damn voters.
Probably less than 1% of the people employed in these megacorps getting the free ride, are even Schenectady taxpayers.
You want a tax break for bringing your business to Schenectady, fine.
But 95% of all employees must reside in Schenectady or you lose your exemption!
Write that as a mandate into the Metroplex operating manual.
I don't think it is asking too much for tax exempt businesses to employ only Schenectady residents to keep their status.
The same should apply to the newly expanded Rotterdam Metroplex/Galesi corporate conglomerate empire.
Improving downtown certainly not the entire answer but before they fixed it - it looked like a ghost town. Now the heavier lift - fixing up the neighborhoods.
They aren't interested in fixing up the neighborhoods or they would issue tax exemptions to the homeowners, like they did for the downtown utopia.
They hunt defects in the homeowner owned sections to bankrupt them so the city can take the property back and offer it up to their corporate masters.
Once again you prove that you can't carry on a somewhat intelligent and rational discussion.
Look who has chosen not to participate in intelligent and rational discussion. Guess it's difficult to discuss intelligently and rationally when you can't provide evidence
.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
The truth is that those who 'can' afford to live in the city.......WON'T!!! They will go to a community that has a better school system, lower taxes and less crime! Until the METROPLEX/GILLEN is abolished and the elected officials cut spending....everyone can expect this to continue! That is a no brainer!! That's about as rational and intelligent as I can get folks.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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