I dont know if Ismat is a woman or man but he/she is DESPICABLE for doing what he/she did. This is a HACK who serves the machine and no one else

As a point of clarification, Ismat Alam is in fact a woman. I realize it her gender has nothing to do with the conversation, I thought I would point it out.
The link below is to her facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/ismat.alam

Quoted from 3303

As a point of clarification, Ismat Alam is in fact a woman. I realize it her gender has nothing to do with the conversation, I thought I would point it out.
The link below is to her facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/ismat.alam

Lives in Clifton Park, New York

'nuff said.

Quoted from 1975

Lives in Clifton Park, New York

'nuff said.

Oh, DV Ron from the Rott town planning committee can provide an explanation for all of us as to why the head of the city's finance dept does not pay taxes to the city, instead avoids the high taxes and lives in a town where home values are rising fast and taxes are low and the schools are good and the community is safe

Right Ron????  You can tell us why a finance director, who knows all the inside stuff about the city's finances lives outside the city, in fact, lives outside the county?

Well?    Answer?

Not holding our breath, you refuse to anwer any questions that show the truth about the city

when's the last time you put your pinky toe inside the city?

Ismat is probably caught int the middle - if the Mayor tells her to do soemthing, then she has to do it.

It's not unlike the Mayor to throw someone else under the bus to deflect balme from himself.  

Jason will land on his feet.  He should run for Mayor, either he or someone else - the position will be ripe for the picking come election time.

Ir really comes down to - given a strong Mayor from of government - what skill set gives you, as Mayor, the best chance to successfully  run the City?

form not from

I'm disappointed "Sales tax deal on a par," Sept. 12, compared various cities' sales tax percentages but failed to provide readers with a fundamental piece of information: The relative size of each city to its home county.

To compare the percentage of sales tax received by various cities without stating the relative sizes of the cities skews the argument. The city of Schenectady represents 43 percent of its home county's population. This is by far the highest population percentage of the cities mentioned in the article. The relative sizes of the other cities mentioned are: Albany, 32 percent; Troy, 31 percent; Rochester, 28 percent; Buffalo, 28 percent; Utica, 26 percent; Batavia, 26 percent; Binghamton, 24 percent; Kingston, 13 percent; and Saratoga Springs, 12 percent.

As stated in the article, on a straight percentage basis, Schenectady does receive 1 percent more sales tax revenue than Kingston. But, on a relative basis, Schenectady also is more than three times the size of Kingston. Why should Schenectady receive the same percentage of sales tax revenue as cities that comprise a much smaller percentage of their county populations? This is a key point and should have been included in the article.

JASON CUTHBERT

The writer is a former Schenectady city budget analyst. He still lives in Schenectady.


Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/opin.....16.php#ixzz26a9oN1MA

I'm glad to see he submitted that to the TU instead of the DG.  He knew it'd never be published in the DG, or it would, with a comment from them following it.

I'd like to buy that man a drink - huge brass ba11s for what he did.  I applaud his moral conviction and his attention to detail.

Quoted Text

Cuthbert a hero, didn’t deserve to be fired

I would like to see the charts and graphs that city budget analyst Jason Cuthbert provided the Schenectady City Council regarding the city/county sales tax split. If Cuthbert felt they were important enough to risk getting himself fi red, the city should at least make them public. We as taxpayers have the right to judge for ourselves if the sales tax splits were fair or not. It is my belief that the firing of Jason Cuthbert was not in the city’s best interest. It is good to see a person who is willing to stand up for what he believes is right. Jason Cuthbert should be praised for trying to help the city taxpayers — not fired.

WALTER J. MORLOCK
Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00706&AppName=1

Quoted Text

FIRING PROTESTED
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter


    McCarthy was also roundly criticized during the council session for his decision to fi re budget analyst Jason Cuthbert two weeks ago.
    Cuthbert was fired after he publicly urged the council to vote against the sales tax agreement with the county — an agreement that the mayor had personally negotiated. Cuthbert disagreed with the negotiations and wanted the council to fight harder for a larger share in the countywide sales tax revenue.
    He gave the council charts showing that the city’s share of the sales tax revenue had stayed flat for 15 years while the county’s share had grown from $13.4 million to more than $60 million.
    He argued the county could share a little more with the city by returning to the 2006-2007 tax rate, at a cost of about $100 per property owner.
    McCarthy fired Cuthbert two days after he spoke out about the deal.
    On Monday, residents said McCarthy was wrong to fi re Cuthbert.
    “It is a shame, it really is, that one person had to be sacked,” said resident Harry Brand.
    Resident Tony Buonome said his friends likened the termination to a Nazi-like suppression of the truth.
    “It’s unbelievable” Buonome said. “I just don’t understand it. I felt real bad for this young man.”
    Resident Mary McClaine added that the council was at fault for putting Cuthbert in the position of speaking publicly.
    “It should not have been necessary for Jason Cuthbert to send charts to City Council. City Council should have requested the information,” she said.
    She also said that “only the uneducated” could have negotiated the sales tax deal that the council approved.
    “You betrayed us,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion.
    Councilman Vince Riggi, who voted against the sales tax deal, added that Cuthbert should not have been fired. He commended Cuthbert for providing useful information.
    “He’s certainly a man of immense integrity,” Riggi said. “I wish him all the best.”
    In response, McCarthy defended the sales tax agreement as the best possible deal.
    Anyone who thinks otherwise is “foolish,” he said, adding that only an “overly simplistic analysis” could show that the city should get more revenue.
    The city doesn’t deserve to get more because most of the growth in sales tax revenue is in the suburbs, he said.
    “There’s no way there’s 6 or 7 million dollars left on the table,” he said. “This deal is not a great deal. But it’s a good deal. It’s a fair deal.”

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01104&AppName=1

If we didn't have so many non profits and PILOTS, if we had some stores to shop in downtown, stores that would
BRING people downtown................

Quoted Text

In response, McCarthy defended the sales tax agreement as the best possible deal.
    Anyone who thinks otherwise is “foolish,” he said, adding that only an “overly simplistic analysis” could show that the city should get more revenue.
    The city doesn’t deserve to get more because most of the growth in sales tax revenue is in the suburbs, he said.

Uh, HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't the dems in the city claim that all the wild uncontrolled spending on downtown would help the city????????


So, HOW has it helped the city????


DRASTICALLY REDUCED TAX BASE

PLUMMETING HOME VALUES

DRASTICALLY REDUCED SALES TAX REVENUE

ALMOST THE HIGHEST TAXES IN THE WHOLE DANG COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Now, as a town homeowner AND TAXPAYERS, we should be pleased because we are not subsidizing the STUPID DEMS in the city, so I copied and pasted McC's comment simply as EVIDENCE THAT THE "working together" of the city, the county, and metroplex is NOT helping the city at all!!!!!!


And I DEFY ANY cheerleader for the city and downtown to state otherwise AND provide proof.    

Here is what Working Together is doing for us.   Here is what the Metroplex is doing for us...


Schenectady County Revenues     2010     2008     2006     2004     2002     2000     1998
Payments In Lieu Of Taxes     938,917     1,165,289     981,604     793,637     304,985     294,396     209,347
Real Property Taxes     63,583,228     60,950,259     57,322,501     51,593,403     45,109,437     42,323,271     42,362,181
Sales Tax     82,304,702     86,040,291     53,330,705     46,798,675     38,411,079     33,521,226     24,884,630
                                   
Schenectady County Revenues     2010     2008     2006     2004     2002     2000     1998
Payments In Lieu Of Taxes     616,586     661,444     725,095     655,304     704,207     555,959     458,421
Real Property Taxes     25,536,240     27,659,208     30,345,031     34,103,003     19,052,757     15,703,736     16,322,921
Sales Tax Distribution     11,050,000     11,000,000     11,000,000     11,000,000     10,999,494     10,999,608     11,051,366

Quoted Text

The city doesn’t deserve to get more because most of the growth in sales tax revenue is in the suburbs, he said.
    “There’s no way there’s 6 or 7 million dollars left on the table,”

talk about overly simplistic