Yep, NYC has a commuter tax AND residency requirements for its police. AND we take their problem citizens off their hands to make their mayors look good.
As an aside, has McCheese even succeeded in getting our truck back from the out of town Garbage Guru? You know how I would get it back? Cut the position from the budget. No employee, no free truck.

While I have always maintained and always will that the staff at Metroplex/County Economic Development has done a great job, it is equally true that I have always believed and publicly stated that the disbursal of economic development monies should be made by the popularly elected COUNTY LEGISLATURE and NOT by an unelected board.  Having reiterated that, I think the news about the film studio and the subsequent stories about the possibility of a supermarket and the roadwork along Lower State Street is absolutely fabulous.  I have said all along - once the Erie Boulevard road work was done that a number major projects would be coming to Schenectady.  All indicators that Schenectady County is heading in the right direction.  THE RENAISSANCE CONTINUES.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

  All indicators that Schenectady County is heading in the right direction.  THE RENAISSANCE CONTINUES.

Yep, continuing the reduction in the tax base
Continual reductions of property values
Continual reductions in home sales
Continuing reductions in home sale prices
Continuing the increasing number of vacant residential units
Continuing the expansion of blight in the NEIGHBORHOODS -- where people live
Continuing the reduction of ESSENTIAL services to residents (while increasing the NON essentials of stupid "fancy" lighting and gold ceilings)
Continuing to take homes of long time taxpayers
Continuing to put long time taxpaying businesses out of business while stealing money from financially struggling homeowners in order to lavish homeowners money onto the millionaire political cronies of the city/county/plex dems
Continuing to exempt the rich cronies from paying taxes
Continuing to increase the taxes on the long overburdened financially struggling homeowners.


And that is what the ALLEGED Catholic thinks is wonderful.  Guess it's too difficult to serve the poor in the city, go to the rich in Nisky.

The "Potemkin Renaissance" (thank you Cicero for the Potemkin reference!).

It's true. You want people to drive through downtown Schenectady and look at the pretty facades. Yet no one really knows that the taxpayers have spent millions of their own dollars to build that...not private developers, not individual businessowners...the Metroplex took TAXPAYERS MONEY AND BUILT A DOWNTOWN.

It's a sham because the taxpayers are STILL paying for the upkeep of these businesses though upkeep, decade-long tax exemptions and zero interest loans without a due date.

No one will move into the City because the taxes are too high...because we're indebted to the Potemkin Renaissance. Our taxes are used to continue a lie.

If I were Catholic, I would probably prefer that public money go to fund a safe place for people like that young woman who got kicked out of the hospital and ended up dead in a jail cell. In fact, I still feel that way, and I'm not even Catholic.
MC has cited a long list of indicators that the county is NOT headed in the right direction, but I guess that someone saying that he THINKS it is, refutes all that evidence.
McCheese and company can't alter the fact that although Schenectadians are PAYING for his nonsense, we aren't BUYING it. More and more For Sale signs every day.
Plenty willing to work here, not live here and pay taxes here. Plenty willing to live here, not work or pay taxes. Even a particularly dopey politician has woken up and is clearing out, but like many a deadbeat tenant, first has to leave a mess behind for others to deal with. These are not "indicators" of anything good.

Quoted from Madam X

If I were Catholic, I would probably prefer that public money go to fund a safe place for people like that young woman who got kicked out of the hospital and ended up dead in a jail cell. In fact, I still feel that way, and I'm not even Catholic.
MC has cited a long list of indicators that the county is NOT headed in the right direction, but I guess that someone saying that he THINKS it is, refutes all that evidence.
McCheese and company can't alter the fact that although Schenectadians are PAYING for his nonsense, we aren't BUYING it. More and more For Sale signs every day.
Plenty willing to work here, not live here and pay taxes here. Plenty willing to live here, not work or pay taxes. Even a particularly dopey politician has woken up and is clearing out, but like many a deadbeat tenant, first has to leave a mess behind for others to deal with. These are not "indicators" of anything good.

There is no reason to drag religion into the topic.  In fact, it is inappropriate and classless.  But then I don't expect much more from a bunch of bigoted, narrow-minded nayboobs.

DVOR, you talk about the Pope all the time. MC is right, I agree, public spending should be a) for the good of the citizenry whose money it is, and b) to help the citizenry who may need some extra assistance and are unable to get that assistance through family and outside agencies. Taking from people who don't have a lot, to "help" people who already have a lot, that not only is bad government, it is immoral. Hence, the mention of religion.

Quoted from Madam X

DVOR, you talk about the Pope all the time. MC is right, I agree, public spending should be a) for the good of the citizenry whose money it is, and b) to help the citizenry who may need some extra assistance and are unable to get that assistance through family and outside agencies. Taking from people who don't have a lot, to "help" people who already have a lot, that not only is bad government, it is immoral. Hence, the mention of religion.

You must be delusional.  I never once mentioned the Pope in regard to this issue or for that matter any issue regarding Schenectady County.  Also, the FACT is that I have NEVER once said to take money from the poor or from people who need assistance.  

I know that you and your fellow nayboob can't seriously make any argument against a new company coming to Schenectady.  A company that will create jobs and economic activity.  So you have to find some way to obfuscate and throw up red herrings and down right make up lies so that you can pursue your empty arguments against  - always against - always complaining about - never seeing good in anything.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

I know that you and your fellow nayboob can't seriously make any argument against a new company coming to Schenectady.  A company that will create jobs and economic activity.

I can only speak for myself, but I think many agree, that we welcome business to Schenectady.  The opposition is to the use of public money given to private business in order to bribe them to open here.

Public money should be used to attract business by investing in infrastructure and maintaining it, not investing directly into a private business.  Invest money into better roads, more efficient traffic patterns, newer sidewalks, better lighting, better storm drains, modern snow removal equipment, sewers, water, reliable power grid.  Things that will increase the productivity of a business.

There is nothing worse than having a 6" snow storm, and having the power go out because of a 100 year old power grid, and not being able to drive in the streets because of broken down snow plows.  Businesses lose money.

Went to Johnny's tonight, and I must say, it was fantastic. Great food and great service, they are really turning the downtown area into a food destination as Zen is also very good, and Bomber's is fun. Combine this with the Centre Street providing good nightlife and the Bier Abbey having the best selection in the area, well things are turning around. I'm starting to change my opinion on some of these tax breaks, as I find myself going to down town more and more often, rather than driving to Albany and Troy.

Quoted from A Better Rotterdam

Went to Johnny's tonight, and I must say, it was fantastic. Great food and great service, they are really turning the downtown area into a food destination as Zen is also very good, and Bomber's is fun. Combine this with the Centre Street providing good nightlife and the Bier Abbey having the best selection in the area, well things are turning around. I'm starting to change my opinion on some of these tax breaks, as I find myself going to down town more and more often, rather than driving to Albany and Troy.

I like Movieland and love Johnny's.

But the two metrics on the fraud that is occurring against the taxpayers are:

• Direction of property tax changes (It's going up, not down)
  
• Direction of sale prices and volume of sales of housing (these are both going down)
  

So as much as I like two aspects of downtown, Metroplex is a failure.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

You must be delusional. ... Also, the FACT is that I have NEVER once said to take money from the poor or from people who need assistance.  

.  So you have to find some way ... down right make up lies so that you can pursue your empty arguments against  - always against - always complaining about - never seeing good in anything.

MORE LIES FROM DV


Excuse me DV, but over ad over you have CHERED for taking money from the poor, from people who need assistance.

The homeowners in the city are on the poor side, they need assistance.   The POOR, FINANCIALLY STRUGGLING homeowners' money is going to the millionaires downtown, the political cronies of YOUR DEM party buddies.  And you cheer over and over and over and over for taking from the POOR homeowners and residents and giving to the rich.  

How about all the hundreds of millions given to Proctors and a gold ceiling

How about poor, financially struggling homeowners who need assistance to fix up their homes but YOU CHEER for taking money from them and pouring it into buildings owned by super ultra rich multimillionaires downtown?

How about the poor, financially struggling homeowners who are increasingly losing their homes because they have to pay the property and school taxes of the super ultra rich downtown multimillionaire political cronies of YOUR DEM PARTY??????


And the list goes on, and YOU state over and over and over and over and over that this is "ecconomic development," that this is an "investment."      

But tell us DV, what are the POOR homeowners getting in return for their "investment"   ?????    Well, can you answer that?


Of course, GUARANTEE NO RESPONSE TO THOSE QUESTION from DV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you take money from the citizenry and give it to the well off, instead of using that money for the common good, i.e. plowing, proper equipment for the fire department, etc., you are taking money away from the poor and giving it to the wealthy, you are doing exactly that, and YES, DVOR, you are advocating for that, right now.
This Metroplex business is a form of money laundering. People can't see who is getting robbed, and for some reason many can't put two and two together. Sometimes they don't want to know, I think. People get thrown out of their homes, but people who don't live here get to hang out at some shiny bars and restaurants so that's good. People can't sell their houses, but non-residents stop downtown more, so that's okay. The city can just initiate a new program whereby they will authorize some new hires to barge into our homes and scrounge in our sofas as a new source of revenue, because that will be as lucrative as the non-taxpaying businesses owned by non-residents are.

Quoted from A Better Rotterdam

Went to Johnny's tonight, and I must say, it was fantastic. Great food and great service, they are really turning the downtown area into a food destination as Zen is also very good, and Bomber's is fun. Combine this with the Centre Street providing good nightlife and the Bier Abbey having the best selection in the area, well things are turning around. I'm starting to change my opinion on some of these tax breaks, as I find myself going to down town more and more often, rather than driving to Albany and Troy.

The food and service should be excellent.

500 families have their homes taken each year to fund the thieves that run those businesses.