WTH???? The METROPLEX/GILLEN promised that they would lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!  FAILED!!!

We were talking with some folks who live in the city and they said that they are going to vote the entire city council OUT!!Time will tell.

Quoted from Tommy

Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, but I think he is getting a pension, having taught for 21 years at Albany High.
The guy is totally accessible though. He even has a call in radio show each week, that allows his constituents to ask him anything they want.
If you see him in person, he'll usually make sure any problem you might have, is addressed pretty immediately.

NOPE, Jennings does not get a pension, that's a well know fact

McCarthy wouldn't dream of a radio show, or even a once a year thing.   He and his cheerleader buddy are alike.   Cluck cluck cluck

Quoted from bumblethru

WTH???? The METROPLEX/GILLEN promised that they would lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!  FAILED!!! We were talking with some folks who live in the city and they said that they are going to vote the entire city council OUT!!Time will tell.

We heard that one before and only Riggi won. City Council is a life appointment with these Schenectady
Syndrome victims that show up to vote. The problem isn't the DEM morons failure to budget nor cut anything
it's that no one is paying their insane DEM clown posse taxes and parking tickets. LOL!

Quoted from bumblethru

WTH???? The METROPLEX/GILLEN promised that they would lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!  FAILED!!!

We were talking with some folks who live in the city and they said that they are going to vote the entire city council OUT!!Time will tell.

From the Metroplex Website:

"What we do

The Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority's works to attract new jobs and new investment to Schenectady County. Its efforts focus on key commercial corridors and business parks strategically located throughout the County with a special emphasis on redevelopment of the downtown area in the City of Schenectady.

We are guided by the three criteria:

to expand the county's property tax base;
to expand the sales tax base; and
to create and retain jobs. "

You're right Bumble!

The property taxes are going up 4% ....a Plex epic fail.
The City's share of sales taxes haven't increased from 1995..a DEM working together failure.
Jobs??? The County lost over 1,700 with the plex at the helm.

Why does the Plex keep going??? It's a failure on every single economic level and it's destroying the City.

Thank you Sir...I'll have another.

So here is what Metroplex is doing for us city residents.....a whole lot of nothing.  However if you live in the in the county but not in the city, well that is another story.  Is this too simplistic to see or am I missing something?

http://www.cdrpc.org/


Schenectady 2011     Equilization     County     Town     City/Village     School     Total
Town of Duanesburg     31%     $6.21      $1.28      $0.00      $7.49      $14.98
Village of Delanson     27%     $5.26      $1.08      $3.08      $9.42      $18.83
Town of Glenville     91%     $6.23      $3.06      $0.00      $9.29      $18.58
Village of Scotia     85%     $5.82      $0.86      $8.81      $15.50      $30.99
Town of Niskayuna     100%     $6.14      $2.87      $0.00      $9.01      $18.02
Town of Princetown     32%     $6.23      $0.14      $0.00      $6.37      $12.74
Town of Rotterdam     100%     $6.33      $4.32      $0.00      $10.65      $21.30
City of Schenectady     100%     $6.66      $0.00      $13.19      $19.85      $39.70
                              0
Schenectady 1995     Equilization     County     Town     City/Village     School     Total
Town of Duanesburg     53%     $7.82      $0.53      $0.00      $8.35      $16.69
Village of Delanson     54%     $7.84      $0.53      $5.09      $13.46      $26.92
Town of Glenville     73%     $7.95      $2.22      $0.00      $10.18      $20.35
Village of Scotia     73%     $7.90      $1.00      $10.62      $19.52      $39.04
Town of Niskayuna     103%     $7.40      $2.70      $0.00      $10.10      $20.19
Town of Princetown     53%     $7.24      $0.00      $0.00      $7.24      $14.49
Town of Rotterdam     5%     $8.25      $3.40      $0.00      $11.65      $23.30
City of Schenectady     113%     $8.59      $0.00      $10.80      $19.39      $38.79

Quoted from TakingItBack

So here is what Metroplex is doing for us city residents.....a whole lot of nothing.  However if you live in the in the county but not in the city, well that is another story.  Is this too simplistic to see or am I missing something?

http://www.cdrpc.org/

Schenectady 2011-----Equilization----County--Town-----City/Village--School-----Total

Town of Princetown-----32%-----------$6.23---$0.14-------$0.00------$6.37------$12.74
Town of Rotterdam----100%----------$6.33---$4.32------$0.00-------$10.65-----$21.30
City of Schenectady---100%----------$6.66---$0.00-----$13.19------$19.85------$39.70
                              

Too simplistic? Not at all.

Princetown officials should be running the county.

Quoted from Libertarian4life

Too simplistic? Not at all.

Princetown officials should be running the county.

But oh, wait, Princetown doesn't get to enjoy having Proctor's, the metroplex, and the corporate welfare businesses.

Schenectady would fall right in line with the others if not for the corporate welfare conglomerate.

Quoted Text

From the Metroplex Website:

"What we do

The Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority's works to attract new jobs and new investment to Schenectady County. Its efforts focus on key commercial corridors and business parks strategically located throughout the County with a special emphasis on redevelopment of the downtown area in the City of Schenectady.

We are guided by the three criteria:

to expand the county's property tax base;
to expand the sales tax base; and
to create and retain jobs. "

Let's see, let's challenge the big DV cheerleader for the dems and plex to provide details showing how Metroplex has been helped the city.


ROFLMAO


Don't worry, since all the predictions that we, so called "nayboobs" have been making are coming true, since all the evidence we, so called "anyboobs" provide proves what a failure the dems and plex are for the city, the big DV aka Glory  cheerleader (from the Rott town planning cmte) is avoiding posting on here anymore.  

He can't refute what we say, so he just avoids discussion of the issues.    We don't need to see his "city is in a renaissance" posts anymore, don't have to read his "hip hip hoorah" for the dems anymore.  

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Tax math as painful as paying
Confusion over tax cap rampant in city, state
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    Although the city proposed budget will raise taxes by 4.18 percent, it doesn’t violate the socalled 2 percent tax cap.
    In fact, the city must stay under a 1 percent tax cap for next year, and it just managed to do so. The levy increased by 0.86 percent, or $274,000.
    Yet taxes are going up more than 4 percent.
    “The tax cap is on the levy, not the tax rate,” Finance Commissioner Ismat Alam explained.
    In other words — the total amount of taxes the city is collecting is going up by just under 1 percent. But many properties have been taken off the tax roll, or had their value signifi cantly reduced. Because of that, the city would have had to increase the tax rate simply to collect the same amount of money as last year.
    Alam said the city also had to stick to a 1 percent cap, rather than the 2 percent, because Schenectady is putting off a major expense.
    The city will postpone $1.36 million of its pension payment next year, and pay it off over the course of the next five years, along with interest. The city could have instituted a higher tax to pay off the pension, according to the state Comptroller’s Offi ce.
    The tax cap rises when the pension costs rise. But the city can’t simply tax for the entire pension increase each year. Only an increase above 2 percent can help lift the cap.
    But the city can’t tax more while also putting off the payment for which the tax was needed, Alam said.
    “You cannot do both. You either take credit through the tax cap or you amortize it,” she said.
    The cap also rises if the municipality didn’t tax at the maximum allowed the previous year. But last year’s tax hike was 1.89 percent. While there were smaller tax hikes in the recent past, they don’t count.
The city can’t save up toward the tax cap with years of low taxes, and then have one large tax increase. “It’s a one and done,” Comptroller’s Office spokesman Brian Butry said. “It’s if they didn’t go up to the cap last year.”
There are a few other ways to raise the cap slightly, but big pensions costs and low tax increases are the most common.
“Those are the two big ones,” Butry said.
fuzzy math
It wasn’t easy for Alam to fi gure out how much the city could tax. The state formula is so convoluted that it filled, in small text, one entire slide of Mayor Gary McCarthy’s budget presentation. After he read through it, he joked that he was sure that was so clear that he wouldn’t need to answer any questions about it.
But once the city has an idea of what its tax cap really is, it’s possible that no one will ever question it.
    The state Comptroller’s Offi ce may check that calculation next year, but the city is allowed to go ahead with its budget under the self-reported fi gures.
    Last year, the first year of the tax cap, many municipalities miscalculated their caps, Butry said.
    “There were multiple instances, as you can imagine. It was the fi rst year. We brought up multiple errors,” he said. “There were so many errors last year that we tried to make it easier.”
    The office runs a website that calculates the individual tax cap for each municipality and school district. City officials had to type in eight different fi gures, ranging from pension costs to last year’s tax levy. Then the system calculates the cap.
    “Last year there were a number of errors in that self-reporting,” Butry said.
    The office tried to better explain how finance commissioners could arrive at each of the eight fi gures required for the cap. State offi cials are hoping for fewer mistakes this time.
    Last year they spot-checked more than 1,000 governing bodies, from counties to cities to school districts. Those who made a mistake weren’t fined or penalized. But they were required to take whatever excess tax they had collected, and set it aside to be used in the following year’s budget..........................>>>>.........................>>>>..........................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00903&AppName=1

Quoted Text

But many properties have been taken off the tax roll, or had their value significantly reduced. Because of that, the city would have had to increase the tax rate simply to collect the same amount of money as last year.

And this is apparently the crux of the tax issue in SCUMnectady!!! Vacant homes, lower values and tax exempt METROPLEX/GILLEN'S projects and PROCTORS!!!

So those who are left in the city are carrying pretty much the entire tax burden!! OMG!!

And to add insult to injury........ALL of SCUMnectady county has the highest crime rate per capita in the ENTIRE STATE!!! Why? Because of the city! The city has brought down the entire county regarding crime!!!

Great reasons to wanna move to SCUMnectady...eh?

MC1.  

Cant we figure out how much the tax roll has dropped year over year using the 1% number below and the proposed and past tax rates adjusted by the 104% equalization.  

If the levy only went up 1% but taxes are getting raised by over 4% that means the overall valuation of the city went down more than 6 or 7% not counting the 104% equalization.




"In other words — the total amount of taxes the city is collecting is going up by just under 1 percent. But many properties have been taken off the tax roll, or had their value signifi cantly reduced. Because of that, the city would have had to increase the tax rate simply to collect the same amount of money as last year."

Quoted from TakingItBack

MC1.  

Cant we figure out how much the tax roll has dropped year over year using the 1% number below and the proposed and past tax rates adjusted by the 104% equalization.  

If the levy only went up 1% but taxes are getting raised by over 4% that means the overall valuation of the city went down more than 6 or 7% not counting the 104% equalization.


"In other words — the total amount of taxes the city is collecting is going up by just under 1 percent. But many properties have been taken off the tax roll, or had their value signifi cantly reduced. Because of that, the city would have had to increase the tax rate simply to collect the same amount of money as last year."

I can't begin, at the moment, to do the math to figure your comments.   However, the FACT, with more than enough EVIDENCE (to support the FACT) is that the millions of taxpayer dollars spent on downtown has NOT, and I repeat NOT, and I repeat NOT, and I repeat NOT accomplished what the dems claimed it would do.  It has NOT increased the tax base, it has NOT reduced taxes, it has NOT generated additional sales tax revenue, it has NOT helped the home values.

Now, here are some numbers for you to ponder; these numbers ARE 100% FACT, they are EVIDENCE DIRECT from the city'a very own official final assessment rolls 2011 and 2012.


The total tax base (taxable assessed value) in 2011 was:    $ 2,288,248,798
The total tax base (taxable assessed value) in 2011 was:    $ 2,208,182,870
This reflects a DRASTIC REDUCTION of the tax base of a whopping $80 MILLION in just one mere year.


Just a tidbit of information - Proctors is assessed for $26,924,200.   Proctors is listed as property class 681 "Culture building" and falls in this Code of "Local Authority" and there is also this Code of Ind Dev Ag on the rolls.

In 2011 the total properties listed as IDA was                38
In 2011 the total properties listed as Local Auth was         44
Total of these two codes in 2011 therefore is                 82

In 2012 the total properties listed as IDA was                42
In 2011 the total properties listed as Local Auth was         49
Total of these two codes in 2011 therefore is                 91


These properties seem to be largely tax exempt.   Notice there is an increase in the number of properties in these two codes of 9 additional probably tax exempt

The total assessment value of the properties in these two codes in 2011 was    $ 202,625,239
The total assessment value of the properties in these two codes in 2012 is       $ 253,763,094


Unrelated to the two codes referenced above:

The total assessed value of all wholly exempt properties in 2011 was:       $  994,300,944
The total assessed value of all wholly exempt properties in 2012 is:       $ 1,002,276,158


Now some details using STAR exemptions.   The STAR exemption is available ONLY for OWNER-OCCUPIED properties and an owner may only have one such exemption.   There are two types of STAR exemptions:    STAR Basic - for property owners under age 65 and for those over age 65 whose income is more than $79,050 annually.   STAR Enhanced is for property owners over age 65 and whose income is below that $79,050 annually.

Here is a breakdown of STAR exemptions in the city for 2011

STAR Enhanced:               2,401
STAR Basic:                  8,446
Total                       10,847

Here is a breakdown of STAR exemptions in the city for 2012

STAR Enhanced:               2,468
STAR Basic:                  8,220
Total                       10,688



Regarding the STAR info, there are some conclusions
1.  67 owner occupant homes attained the age of 65 with an income less than $79,050 and thus became eligible for STAR Enhanced.
2.  The city had a net loss of 159 owner occupied homes.

However, there is a FACT (and since I have previously provided the EVIDENCE, thus no possible way to dispute my statement here), we know that the city is all messed up in terms of assessment records and taxes.
We know of two homes IN the city who are ILLEGALLY getting a STAR exemption:  

1.  The home owned by Philip Morris (the lavish paid CEO of the non-taxpaying Proctors), as Morris has fled the city and lives in a lavish house in Princetown which he bought in 2010 and has a STAR exemption on beginning in 2011 and still has in 2012.   But he previously lived in the city, he still owns his city house but does not LIVE IN the house, but it still has a STAR exemption on it ILLEGALLY

2.  The house owned by Eric Ely (the former superintendent of the Schenectady school district, the co-conspirator of terrorism with Steve Raucci).  We ALL know it is an undisputable fact that Ely does NOT live in his Schenectady city house since he lives out of state. He left, when, 2009 or 2010.   But despite the years of not being an owner occupant in his city house, he still has the STAR exemption ILLEGALLY.   It is also a well known fact that he put his Schdy house up for sale but since no one wants to live IN the city, no one has been willing to buy it, and it still has not sold, he listed it for over a year with no one wanting to buy it, even though it's in a finer section of the city (that is not a sarcastic comment)

So, here are two additional properties that need to be added to that net loss of owner occupants IN the city, now a net loss of 161.  Since we know the city assessor's office and the finance office don't know what they are doing, there probably are more STAR exemptions on properties for which owners do not occupy the houses, thus illegal exemptions, but would provide additional net loss of owner occupied houses in the city.


An additional reference to STAR ineligibility is that Pollock guy with the pitbulls where a court in a city out of state ordered Pollock and is dogs into the city of Schenectady.  This Pollock has long owned a house on Orchard Street, yet the proof positive that he was NOT an owner occupant is the fact that was actually living in Massachusetts by virtue of the problems he has had with the law while living there.  So now he is back IN the city, but for several years he lived out of state but he still had the STAR exemption on his house ILLEGALLY.


And since the dems in the city are REFUSING to pay on the principal on the Taj Mahal, and since they are REFUSING make downtown pay property taxes, and since the dems are jacking up the taxes on the financially struggling homeowners, and since the city has a $5 million deficit from 2011 and has not been willing to tell us how much that deficit has grown this year, AND since the dems have not make cuts, AND since the interest on the Taj Mahal garage is going to really sock the homeowners in the 2014 budget because of the interest payments will which are going to AT LEAST quintuple because the dems have screwed the city royally, then we know that the total tax base next year will see another drastic reduction and the number of owner occupied homes will fall a great deal more.


Now, can ANYONE explain how this mayor is for real?   He REFUSED to reassess the city.  He claimed he reduced the values of homes by 4% but that's just a number on paper:  if your house was assessed at $100,000 which means you are taxes on $100,000, and the mayor claims he reduced your home value by 4%, which means your house is valued at $96,000, it doesn't mean diddly squat because you will pay taxes on the $100,000 assessed value.   But then the mayor brags that you can get so much house for your money because of the falling values---that's the wording he uses in trying to say you get your money's worth buying a house IN the city.   So if he home values are falling so much as he claims, then why won't he reassess the homes to the value that they really are instead of having the whole city drastically over-assessed?

But there is one thing that should be mentioned.   If you own a house IN the city, and you have the smarts to grieve your assessment and see it through the court (because the dem hacks on the assessment board refuse to obey the law), then when you win, you will gain a handsome reduction on your taxes and your neighbors will subsidize you.

Quoted Text

Schenectady worse than a greedy ex-spouse

    When does a city stop being a city you love and begins to be a nagging ex?
    Every month, I pay the city of Schenectady over $700 a month in taxes. In 10 years, I have paid down my mortgage debt $13,000. In those 10 years, I have paid Schenectady combined taxes of approximately $80,000.
    In those 10 years, I have lived next to an apartment house with cat infestation (over 100) and a continual bedbug infestation. Neither problem was the city’s concern. Nothing about my needs concerns them.
    When a man lay in a fl ower barrel right outside my door, the attending offi cer yelled at me for bothering the police. There should be a law that an ex has to at least pretend they care about you.
    I have needed a new roof for a long time. I cannot afford one because I have a never-ending monthly support payment due to my ex.
    Now my ex wants more monthly support. “I have needs [my ex says], and I always get what I want.”
    How could I have ever loved Schenectady?

    MAGGIE MCCAREY
    Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01100&AppName=1

Quoted Text

Schenectady still spending way more money than it needs to

    The assertion that Schenectady is in dire fiscal straits reflects a strange use of the term “dire.”
    The city is still giving away police and fire services to nonprofits. In a world where your sexuality is a private matter, the city still spends money dealing with prostitution. And, of course, the city spends considerable money in its attempt to protect the booze industry by jailing its competitors in the drug industry.
    My point acquires more relevance by noting the simple cost savings that are available but not taken.
    What do you think would happen to the cost of social services if they were given only to those who tested negative for drugs or alcohol? What do you think would happen to the cost of education if parents had to pay the cost of dealing with the consequences of their failing to provide their children with the necessary social skills to fully benefit from the school community?
    FRED BARNEY
    Albany

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00906&AppName=1