With a new administration coming to Washington and New York”™s governor talking about “perilous” financial  times, municipalities are trying to figure out how to cut their own costs without breaking the backs of taxpayers here in the mid-Hudson.
The Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce got six leaders together at Fishkill”™s Holiday Inn Jan 14 for some answers. More than 150 business leaders, along with a heaping helping of local officials, attended the early morning confab.
Town of Fishkill Supervisor Joan Pagones; Mayor Steve Gold of the city of Beacon; newly elected Mayor Matt Alexander of the village of Wappingers Falls; town of Wappinger Supervisor Chris Colsey; Mayor Jim Micchio of the village of Fishkill; and Supervisor John Hickman of the town of East Fishkill fielded questions from Ann Meagher, chamber president, as well as the audience.
Pagones, senior among her peers, says working in small-town government is no picnic: “Your constituents are everywhere; if you go to the supermarket or stop to get a cup of coffee, you are bound to run into someone who wants to talk to you about a problem or offer a suggestion. We”™re the people closest to the community.
“We”™ve been asked by the governor to ”˜control our spending”™ and we”™re doing just that,” she said.
But when it comes to the state of New York, Pagones and her fellow elected officials don”™t see Albany practicing what it preaches.
Saying the town of Fishkill monitors its mortgage tax receipts and manages its budget based on what is coming in and what is projected, Pagones has bumped quarterly finance meetings up to one every month to stay on top of the town”™s shrinking income.Â
“State money that helped us pay for unfunded mandates is shrinking, but the mandates have continued,” said Hickman of East Fishkill. “What would we do if we didn”™t have IBM? New York is not doing anything to make New York a more business-friendly place. It is anything but.”
Beacon”™s Gold said the state didn”™t reduce funding for the city: “We are still going to receive the $2.6 million this year, but we have had to take $1.3 million from the city”™s savings to make ends meet. We can”™t depend on that to keep us above water. The market may need correction, but so does that state. We have to watch our spending ”¦ and the state should be doing the same thing.”
Wappingers”™ Colsey said Paterson”™s urging to ”˜share expenses”™ seems to be a one-sided affair. “We have inherited several unfunded mandates. Part of this ”˜sharing”™ means doing with less and spending more. In our case, we have had to cut jobs and reduce some full-time staffers to part time.Â
Wappingers Falls”™ Alexander said, “A relatively small amount of money comes into the villages; we are accustomed to paying our own way. We don”™t rely on mortgage taxes. We are putting our budget together in April and we”™ll be able to see what kind of cuts are being made in the towns and cities. We have cut our highway department from seven to five people ”“ for a small village, that is a big hit. We are trying to remain lean and mean, but how much leaner can we get?”
Fishkill”™s Micchio said the state”™s budget is a good indication of what”™s going to trickle down to the localities. At a recent conference of mayors he attended, “We called for Albany to stop the ”˜Mandate of the Week.”™” Cheers from the audience showed approval.
Will money from the proposed federal stimulus package end up in Albany”™s hands, or will it go directly to the municipalities? Officials would like to see the costs of replacing antiquated water and sewer infrastructure that are supposed to be part of the stimulus package come directly to the municipalities, not doled out by Albany.
Partnering by sharing municipal services wherever possible, said Pagones, is one way governments can save money and time. Another way is to “shop for the best price. We switched to MVP this year as our health insurer ”“ they had the best prices and offered more services than our previous carrier. Why can”™t everyone do the same? And when Toll Brothers came in and wanted to build homes in Fishkill, they donated land to us, which we can use for a new school or for housing.”
“All we are allowed to collect are parkland fees, but we can”™t ask Albany to let us collect fees for the growing number of children moving into the community that need to be educated,” said Alexander. “School taxes are out of control, but we have yet to see a tax increase the districts don”™t like.”
Fern Aefski, superintendent of the Beacon City School District, who attended the breakfast, answered by saying school districts were taking a hard look at their spending, but cannot control fixed costs.Â
“Why aren”™t schools being asked to be fiscally responsible?” retorted Joseph Marlcarne, an engineer from Staatsburg. “School taxes are approximately 68 percent of our property taxes, but where is the accountability? We”™re also waiting to find out what happened to the tax cap.”Â
Colsey told the audience that seniors had come into his office, “offering us their property ”“ they can”™t afford to live here anymore. We need to uncouple the tax cap from property assessments. Any plan that depends on that will be short-term and short-lived.”
Pagones, who has some constituents that attend Beacon city schools, said, “Labor and unions: We need to sit down with them. We have cut out many items. We have to anticipate that this year will be worse than last year,” although a few of her peers felt the third quarter of ”™09 would be a turning point.
