Monday, December 17, 2007

GREENBURGH DEMOCRACY WEEK OF DEC 17 POST YOUR COMMENTS

Please feel free to post your comments about town issues.

BUDGET VOTE THIS WEEK---TONIGHT OR TOMORROW

DID YOU KNOW...that when it snows on a Sunday that employees receive double time? Weeknight and Saturday snow storms: employees who are called for duty receive time and a half. Similar to other labor contracts in communities around the state. Yesterdays storm was not the only Sunday storm.

74 comments:

Anonymous said...

rgrggrggrgrgrg





rgrr

Anonymous said...

Is there ever going to be cuts in the Police Dept ? probaly NOT!!
It's just a waste of money. We should have civilian EMS and contract with the County and State PD's for police protection. They would come already trained and ready for anything. We already pay taxes for County and State police on top of the money we pay now for town police. It's something to think about for next year. Town of Cortlandt does it and they have no problems. When you call for help they are there in minutes.
Everybody needs to look at the BIG picture!

Anonymous said...

Paul you had better make some cuts in the PD.
Too much duplication of services throughout the villages and also westchester and state police.
Give us some kind of a brreak this time arround if not the next budget will be higher..

Anonymous said...

Time to take the Chief to task. He wastes money such as his extensions and deplorable conditions of the building. Mis-management , failure to delegate, unfair employee relations, allowing bosses and himself to take cars home and waste gas on private uses. Ability to make board look bad ( small job ) however he needs to go. He was fired once before. He has the nerve to study our services and question fire taxes and training. The nerve to study consolidation of fire service and then he has the gall to tell the board how to save money. Maybe eliminate his job appoint a commish. Greenburgh was once a top notch job but Kapca has ruined it.

Anonymous said...

Here's a great idea, why not let the fd's handle all the ems including transport. They already go on ems calls and most, if not all are emt's. We don't have many fires in town and if not for the ems calls they go on, there call volume would drop by 70-80%. Instead of just going on ems calls and assist the police dept. why not do the whole job, treat and transport the patient. Before anybody says anything about how that would reduce the manpower in case there is a fire because there out at the hospital, don't forget that we don't have many fires (probably in the single digits per district). In addition to minimal fires, remember that when there is a real fire all the paid districts respond (hint: maybe they should merge)and they get there volunteers to respond as well, so there is never a short supply of firemen. They also call in the paid guys on OT. Oh and get this after they show up if the fire was already put out, they still get the OT. If you did some research i'm sure you would see that EMS is more of an FD function than a PD function. Not many PD's do ems but many fd's do.

Anonymous said...

is the case of the dismissed officer mr ward an indicator anything or just an isolated instance?

Anonymous said...

Oh, I forgot something on the previous post. Yeah, I know the fd doesn't have medics. Make the civilian medics in the PD go work for the fire districts. We already pay for them, just keep them and put them with FD they would get a better pension in the very least. Then let the cop medics go back to doing just police work. It's a win, win, cops not tied up on ems, firemen not siting around waiting for the next fire, civilian medics doing all the ems call with the FD. Oh and most importantly, WHO WILL PAY FOR THIS? The taxpayer still does, whether it's the PD or the FD, you Mr & Mrs Citizen WILL still pay for it. Regardless of what line in the budget it comes from or if it's coming from Fire district taxes YOU are still going to pay. Remember that old saying "you get what you pay for". Well it's no different when it comes to emergency services. It's hysterical reading all of these post about fire, police, and ems and to see how little most people outside that field know about it. Do most of the citizens in greenburgh have any idea who will respond to there home in case of an emergency? No most do not. Unless they have needed there help and have seen them there. But all of a sudden everybody comes out of the wood work with these ridiculous ideas of how they could save money by doing this, that, or the other thing.
Oh, these guys don't need so much training..... lets cut training out of the budget. Do you want an accountant doing your taxes who does know the latest ways to save you money? NO. Do you want an inexperienced pilot flying you to your vacation destination, of course not. How about a surgeon doing your procedure who only did one on a virtual patient because someone wanted to cut his training to save a few bucks? NO. (get the point, for the slower folks). But go ahead lets cut training to our emergency services. Can you see how pathetic you sound, when you make all these uneducated and uninformed comments about cuts. Yes, I know the tax increase is big, but if you got a 5-7% increase the last two years instead of the zeros and a 5-7%increase in this budget you wouldn't be so angry. But you were all blindsided by your elected politicians and it hurts to have to put out 23-24% in one shot. Hopefully you were smart enough to see the writting on the wall and put that 5-7% you saved the last two years in a decent fund, but who am I kidding, from reading all the post I'm sure you did no such thing.

Anonymous said...

I hate to tell you that you are wasting your time writing your ideas to save the taxpayers money.
The chief is a good friend of Sheehan and you know what Sheehan wants he gets.
Your ideas are valid ones but no one will listen to you.
This police department has not been run correctly for many years
Maybe the wrong person was put in the position to run the show.
Nothing will change since you saw the backup that was needed at town hall if police were let go.
The city of New York fired many police one year when they could not pay them and then later on when things got better they were rehired.
That happened to me.
Was I mad sure but I went out and got another job in the mean time.
These police have it made.
Their money keeps flowing whether the taxpayer can or cannot afford it.
So Paul it's up to you to show us what kind of a supervisor you are .
We have to let go people to get ahead in the budget for this year and the ones to come after .

Anonymous said...

Also add to all the comments no pay hikes.
But we know you and the board dont give a dam.

Anonymous said...

To Ward? said
The only thing this is an indicator of is the amount of money the town will have to pay him when he wins the suit. He was found not guilty of his criminal charge and she was found guilty of hers (ACD does not mean innocent). He was fired on departmental charges. Departmental charges that would normally equate to some lose of time and or pay, but since it was tried in the media and thats all our town board (AKA police review board) was capable of understanding he was fired by them. If you're upset about the increase in taxes just wait till the town board makes you pay for there ineptness once again.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget how much they will have to pay her. They made her civil case all the easier by firing him. Nice job! Give her more ammo.

Anonymous said...

Just close the Poilce Dept. and contract with State PD and County PD. Every year for 10 yrs there's been some kind of renovation at police Headquarters because there's not enough room for all the officers who work inside. Instead we should sell the land and put the property on the tax rolls.

Anonymous said...

The Ward case happened because there wasn't any supervision that night.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous at 908am
Contract county or state to do our police work...How many cops are assigned to the town of cortlandt from the state police? how many can respond to your house when you need them. Can you find out before making your post. Will they put and keep minimum of 6-7 cops in the town plus any other service needed in the event of an emergency. How long will it take them to respond with those officers. And most importantly would they even entertain coming to greenburgh, probably not. But could you find out for us before just throwing it out there.
As far as county police is concerned, did you know that there was discussion several years ago by a different group of politicians who were discussing the possibility of eliminating them. Of course it will never happened, but do you want to put a different group of hapless politicians in charge of your police. All I know is those cops in county make a whole lot more than greenburgh cops do. But as usuall I'm sure you didn't know.
EMS could be contracted but at a much higher price than you pay now, but again, i'm sure you didn't know....now you do.

Anonymous said...

The ward case happened because there was no supervision that night.....The incident with Ward did not happen inside the police HQ, it allegedly happened somewhere in Rye. Get it right or say nothing at all.

Anonymous said...

Paul you have to do something with the police dept.
It seems all the comments are in favor of cuts and no raise hikes.
Now the ball is in your corner.How say you.

Anonymous said...

all comments in favor of cuts.....can you read? Maybe a few, I wouldn't say all. I'm personally in favor of good services. I guess I gotta give back the 6-7% I saved for the past few years. Have you not heard the saying "only two things in life are guaranteed, death and taxes". Nuff said

Anonymous said...

Cuts in the police dept. Good Luck with that Paul. I heard about all those cops at the meeting, something tells me that that's a fight you might not want to pick. I've heard how cops at other towns and cities answer such questions as cuts. No more tickets, well that could be good for me. no more arrest, let the monsters run amock, next thing you know you got dozens of cops with line of duty injuries and another dozen with the flu.

Anonymous said...

Hey maybe kapica could go out on patrol when his men are home with the flu. That might help him retire sooner than later. Well there's a start.

Anonymous said...

Is the town trying to save money by not having anyone shovel the sidewalks in hartsdale

Anonymous said...

This historical rationale for the villages-unincorporated setup has not been valid for many decades. Unincorporated was a designation for sparsely settled areas with little need of municipal oversight and services.

Obviously, Unincorporated Greenburgh is very different today, yet we opt to maintain the same governmental structure that has been in place for centuries. It's so strange that Unincorporated Greenburgh hasn't reorganized itself as a city or as three villages.

I give a lot of credit to Mount Kisco, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Rye Town, Somers, Yorktown, Scarsdale, Bedford, Harrison, Lewisboro, North Castle, New Castle and Pelham which all choose to avoid the silliness of A/B budgets and such.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's time Paul and his council start talking to those other towns. We might learn a thing or two.

Anonymous said...

What about cuts in the DPW-Highway Department and Parks-Rec Department? (Actually, the Highway Department needs professional management more than it needs budget cuts.)

Anonymous said...

Let me respond to 12/17/2007 4:52 PM in regards to Greenburgh Housing:

Good for Brown and the residence of GHA.

Brown spoke up for the residence.

Something Barns never did. Barns stands for nothing.

Hurry up and lets do away with this current Board.

People should be more angry with Barns for not sticking up for GHA residence than Brown speaking up for what’s right. Barns serves as the GHA liaison. She stood back and did nothing during her 16 year term. Now that's a disgrace.

After several attempts of being nice, hey--sometimes you have to get angry and fight hard for what’s right.

Barns stands for nothing! She is the Queen of affordable housing???
What a joke. Bronz--the Queen of affordable housing??? another joke!!!

Good for your Brown. I do not live in the Fairview area, however, I now you will be there for the residents -- an action that this current board continues to fail at.

After several attempts of being nice, hey--sometimes you have to get angry and fight hard for what’s right.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 6:35
Paul does not have to worry about cops not giving tickets. They don't do it now because, they are either working inside or taking patients to the hospital

Anonymous said...

Anyone curious about why the Town Board apparently is refusing to make any budget cuts and instead is pursuing various slight of hand measures as band-aids instead of starting to face reality?

Anonymous said...

Anyone curious why Samis doesn't know what he's talking about? One of the town council members last night proposed more than than $3.5 million in budget cuts and Feiner refused to go along with any of them -- and instead insisted that the town board pass the 23% increase just as he proposed it. It's all on the videotape.

Anonymous said...

Just three votes.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the Town Council put through a cut in the fund for certioraris of almost $2 million.

Do you think that this brave cut will stop the certioraris from coming through? If you do, I'll sell you a bridge.

They will pay the certioraris without the fund, so next year you will have the gigsntic tax hike.

It is true that in the psst the Town Board has not managed the town's finances and budgets realistically. But now there is no excuse.

The cuts should have come from operations, which need to be more efficient, and from programs, because we can't afford all of them anymore. But not from certioraris, unless the Town Coumncil has some special pull with the courts.

Anonymous said...

hope kevin knows where to make cuts in the police budget.

Anonymous said...

what about parks and rereaction why is there a need for a superintendant and 2 forman why is there a need for a commisioner a deputy commisioner and an assisitant commisioner. That is a lot of waist if you ask me

Anonymous said...

has any seen or heard from suzanne berger?

Anonymous said...

I wait for the "final" to be approved. It's obvious that comments from the public mean nothing. Next year's tax hike may be 25% or more with all of these games. They are running out of room and they (the entire Town Board) all did it.

Anonymous said...

A "cut" is not moving the damage from one column to another column.
The expense still remains to be dealt with another day.

What I am looking for are items that will not be with us into the future, be it 2008 and/or beyond.

You will recognize such items if you read language such as "We reduced the Library Budget by $200,000" or
"We eliminated the postion of the Arts Director and her accompanying expenses and thus removed, took away the Department expense of $64,000."

Moving from B to A or bonding operating expenses are tricks with mirrors because they don't make the expense go away; they just reflect it onto another budget line such as debt expense.

Since the Public will be grateful for any reduction in next year's taxes, it won't stop and question what is being done. The Town has merely taken out its credit card and charged it -- incurring interest costs and bond issuance costs as well.

And, next year when you get to see the 2009 budget, don't be surprised to see another huge increase and we'll have less fund balance to pay out way out of the problem.

Anonymous said...

The last bloger is right.
Our town representatives here in Greenburgh are afraid of their own shadows.
We will not get what many of the blogers have been commenting on.
Therefore we cannot expect a substantial reduction in the coming year taxes.
Could anyone believe grown people cannot stand up to all the departments heads and demand no salary hikes and some layoffs.
We do have a sad bunch of I cannot even call them men or ladies.

Anonymous said...

It's really unfair to blame town staff. They're surely not to blame for the 23% increase. They came in this year with only a 4.46% increase in costs.

However, a 23% increase in taxes is unacceptable. Therefore, the town board can either accept Feiner's 23% increase, which Feiner wants them to do, and for which they'd all be collectively responsible, or the board can cut deeply into services and/or shift expenses from the unincorporated area budget to the townwide budget.

Which is it gonna be?

Anonymous said...

The entire board represents the grinch that stole Christmas.
With this tax hike coming you have taken the pleasure of celebrating the coming holiday.
With this in mind we still wish all the residents a Merry Christmas with health .
We can start thinking of how we were taken in by the board members throughout the years,but they should remember payback is sweet.

Anonymous said...

Feiner's financial illiteracy, combined with 16 years of playing ombudsman rather than chief financial officer has left us all unhappy.
How about a petition for recall?

ed krauss said...

One of the most egregious problems Greenburgh has with finances and subsequent tax increases, is the misnomer attached to Paul Feiner's name. He is the Town Supervisor,pure and simple. Not the Chief Financial Officer. I know he's been "running" this town for 16 years, but that doesn't give him the conversancy with finance. And yet, he puts together the annual town budget. Never has the paucity of financial expertise been more evident than in the last three budgets. And never has the poor financial planning been more pronounced than the myopic approach to planning for major capital expenditures than in the last decade or so.

The penny wise and pound foolish policy enacted to "keep taxes down," has and is costing us big time with the over blown cost we have yet to experience financing necessary capital projects,i.e. the courthouse, the police headquarters,and day to day projects like road paving, planned obsolesence of vehicles and the like.If we had built the library in 1997 when it was first discussed in earnest, we most likely would have gotten MORE for about half of the $20 million.

I've said it many times but it hasn't changed. We are a $60+ milion business run like a candy store of my youth.

*First and foremost WE NEED AN INDEPENDENT CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.

*WE need a "business plan."

*We need a review of operations. How the day to day operations of this town of ours functions.

*We need a policy manual for reporting, and a chain of command.

In short, we need to reorient!

What we have now is not working.

It's not Feiner's fault. It's not the other board members fault. It's not the department heads fault.

IT IS ALL OF THEIR FAULTS!!!!

Just because you're doing what you did and had no repercussions doesn't make it right.

This should not be about, "what way should I vote to get me reelected?" I think a 23% hit will open many voters' eyes.

When you're "rolling in money" no one looks at spending. Well the days of wine and roses are over. We are now at the beginning of an upward spiral in tax increases, and nthing short of professionalism NOW will help to ease the pain...because no matter what we do with ths budget we will see double digit increases next year.

If we play CFO- without-porfolio; bonding operating expenses, drawing down on the fund balance, and any other gimmicks, we will only exacerbate the problem.

We need a REAL CFO NOW!

Mike Kolesar is my friend and I think he's perfect for the job for a variety of reasons. But if the town wants to look,openly and fairly, for a CFO, please do so. But do it now.

I also ask you not to disqualify Kolesar because he is my friend; because he comes from a village or because he is perceived to be from one group or another. Mike Kolesar is a professional who is not afraid to present the trurth no matter who it may upset.

That's what we need. But that's only step one in a long revitalization project.

Anonymous said...

BRAVO ED KRAUSS.
I second the motion to get Mike Kolesar as CFO.
Maybe this will be our only salvation as far as what the taxes will be in the following years.

Anonymous said...

Will the council support Hal & Paul's suggested $300,000 cut in library appropriations?

Anonymous said...

10:42 you know dam well that the council will turn that request down.
They will screw us up until the last day of this year.
The best present that the residents can receive is the resignation of Sheehan and Juettner.
Sheehan has been the cause of all the resentment throughout the town.
Juettner has been following SHeehan like a puppy dog .
Will both of you give us a break and leave.
We could get 2 great citizens to fill your slot asap at least they know what is right and what is wrong.

WE DON'T WANT YOU ANYMORE.

Anonymous said...

Mike will support more illegal budget moves from A to B.

How many state comptrollers letters will we ignore? He will sign off on budget regardelss of

Anonymous said...

Ed,

Do you know for a fact that Mike would refuse to sign a budget that did not reflect the State Comptrollers and NYS Supreme Court decisions re budgets?

Anonymous said...

Dear 10:08,

Do YOU KNOW for a FACT what Citigroup, GM and Microsoft WILL close at today?

Anonymous said...

SO Hal,

I guess your saying that no one knows if Kolesar would obey the law?

That is not the same thing as a stock price. OK, I guess it is to Greenburgh politicos

Anonymous said...

Why has it become the latest sport to knock Mike Kolesar?

He is a pro and a straight arrow. His record is following the rules and regulations that are required for financcial controls, and that means following the law.

In the past we had a comptroller who lived in a village (Gisela Knight) and she did what was required by law for the same reason that Kolesar would. They are both straight arrows and won't let themselves be intimidated by Board members.

And that is what we need most of all. Pros who wil do what the law requires even if Board members don't like it. Pros who care more about professionalism than keeping their jobs. Saying that a village person can't be a good comptroller is stoking the flames of the divisiveness that has hurt the town.

Anonymous said...

Former village resident Gisela Knight was no neutral in the A and B battles. She corresponded frequently with Feiner in an effort to help him argue that the town had the right to charge only the unincorporated areas for parks and recreational facilities that were open townwide to all residents.

Ask Feiner for copies of his correspondence with Ms. Knight. He'll tell you what a "friend" she was to the villages.

As for Kolesar, he made his position crystal clear on this blog: in exchange for the $5,000 in taxpayer money he was given, Kolesar did what Feiner told him to do.

So, if Feiner told him to ignore the state comptroller's opinions that recommended shifting certain cost items from the B to A budgets, that's exactly what Kolesar did -- even if it meant ignoring the subsequent recommendations of Jim Heslop, the former town comptroller.

Anonymous said...

If Mount Kisco, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Rye Town, Somers, Yorktown, Scarsdale, Bedford, Harrison, Lewisboro, North Castle, New Castle and Pelham can get their townships organized properly, why won't Greenburgh?

Anonymous said...

The 3:52 blog is such untruthful garbage all around, and implies that the writer has written records to support that untruthful garbage, that it can only be Bernstein writing. Bernstein trashed Kolesar is last week's Scarsdale Inquirer as well.

Anybody who doesn't kowtow to Bernstein's agenda gets trashed the same way, with a seemingly authoritative reference to records which do not exist.

Anonymous said...

You are attacking someone who will tell it the way it is.
Some people have reached the point inbelieving the ones that constantly lie.
The reason that we have such a hike in our taxes is because certain department heads have been padding their reports.
Of course they do not want someone who is a straight shooter since they have never followed the rules because no one questioned them.
Paul, Kolesar will be a great help to put Greenburgh on the straight way.
There's always other ways to skin a cat there is always big brother in Albany to investigate the goings on .

Anonymous said...

The town of Greenburgh is well run. Compare Greenburgh municipal costs to costs of surrounding communities. We get great value for our tax dollars.

Anonymous said...

SO 12:43,

I don't know if you have a tiny dick either but you know what they say, tiny brain = tiny dick which would be your "stock in trade".

In the United States, even in Greenburgh except on this blog and at the Ethics Board, the presumption follows that one is innocent until proven guilty.

Why would I need to defend Kolesar against not only a position he hasn't taken but also, not holding town office, has no ability to
enact.

If you aren't buying the car, why concern what little computing power you possess worrying over the warranty.

SO, coward: take this advice and shove it.

Anonymous said...

6:36PM: You're either being sarcastic or you're Mrs. Feiner.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous 12/19 3:52PM,

If you are going to attack someone at least have the courage to use your real name.

The entire Town Board received an email every day as to exactly what I had done. In many areas, my direction came from the Acting Town Comptroller (read my report), not the Supervisor.

The Town Board had ample opportunity to communicate any concerns. No one did. They had ample opportunity to ask questions after the report was issued. No one did.

Enough said on this - get your facts right.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Kolesar:

Why did you ignore the recommendations that Jim Heslop made concerning shifts from the unincorporated area budget to the town-wide budget?

Was it because the Acting Comptroller told you to do so or was it because Feiner told you to do so?

Or did you just choose to ignore them on your own?

Anonymous said...

10:25 you are ignorant and a dope who speaks with anger rather than knowledge.

Kolesar's job had nothing to do with implementing Heslop's recommendations. Kolesar's job was to try to find new ways that others hadn't tried to work on the budget. In his report he described ways of doing long range budget analysis. He wasn't supposed to make any allocations between the A and the B budget. That was for the Town Board if they thought they should. They adopted many of the recommendations and didn't adopt others. That is the way they should do their job.

What kicks do you get out of insulting people?

Anonymous said...

"Finding new ways to work on the budget that others haven't tried before" should have included complying with the state comptroller's opinions, or at least determining what the impact would be if there had been compliance.

By not addressing these issues, the participation of Kolesar, a pro-village advocate, put more fuel on the fire -- about as bad as Feiner putting pro-village advocate Herb "white lie" Rosenberg in charge of SCOBA.

Anonymous said...

Hey 3:45, making your points by calling people names shows what a schmuck you are. You are not to be taken seriously.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 3:45 made his or her points very well and fairly.

When Mike Kolesar was an Ardsley trustee, he was a member of the Village Officials Committee. That committee opposes, among other things, complying with the state comptroller's recommendations that the costs of the town engineer, the town garage, and the cable tv operation be shared townwide. It was therefore no surprise that when Kolesar picked up the 5 grand from the town board in October for giving Feiner "advice" on the town budget, that those recommendations from the state comptroller were ignored.

So when anon at 3:45 calls Kolesar a "pro-village advocate," the description is fair.

It's also just as fair to call Rosenberg a "pro-village advocate."

The "white lie" reference is obscure, but also fair.

According to the police report prepared by Chief Kapica last spring, Rosenberg lied to the town board when he denied that Feiner had sent him a supposedly privileged memo from the town's lawyer. In his defense, if it can be called that, Rosenberg said he merely told a "white lie."

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous 12/21 12:16 AM,

You miss a very, very big point. It is the Town Board and not the Town Comptroller, nor the Acting Town Comptroller nor any consultant who sets policy. As Mr. Samis has pointed out for years, just three votes. Why didn't three of the Town Board members make a motion to move these items that you raise? Just three votes. So apparently at least, Feiner Juettner and Sheehan don't agree with you. Their seats are all up for election in 2009. Let the fun begin, but be consistent, they all voted against your position and that of Mr. Bernstein, in case you two are not one and the same. (Wink, wink!!!)

Anonymous said...

Paul, Greenburghs time has come dissolve unicorporated greenburgh into the surrounding towns and city. That way we will all work together for a common goal.

Anonymous said...

Driving by the library project today I noticed it is huge with ample parking. The plans call for an assembly area. Why not house the court there. And it can be dual purpose!

Anonymous said...

Just in case the judge wants to throw the book at the defendant?

Anonymous said...

Go shoping for a new courthouse. Imay be cheaper after Christmas. Maybe marked down to $25 to $30 million. No trade-in on the old but perfectly usable courthouse.

Anonymous said...

Daer Mr. Samis,

No, just in case the judge wants to "read" them the "riot act".

Anonymous said...

Could someone tell me where all the money goes that is received by the settlement of ticket given to motorist for speeding and other traffic infractions.
I happened to be an observer one day and i observed everyone pleaded not gulty with an explanation and the fine was $135.00 for about twenty people.
If this goes on everytime court is in session where does all this money go.
What happens if one pleads guilty how much would the fine be.
WHERE DOES ALL THIS MONEY GO?
Collecting all these money the court system could build a building that could be larger than White Plains court building.
They don't need our tax money they make enough with their daily collections.
Has anyone checked how much money is taken in at one session?

Anonymous said...

4:58 asks "Could someone tell me where all the money goes that is received by the settlement of ticket given to motorist for speeding and other traffic infractions.

I know that a good chunk of it goes to New York State. The portion that remains in Greenburgh goes into the A budget, which also pays the expenses of the court.

It may be a goldmine for New York State, but it isn't a goldmine for Greenburgh.

Anonymous said...

How much remains here in Greenburgh after the state get their cut.
Do we get any kick back from the state to collect these monies for them?
Do we charge the state for collecting these funds for them?

Anonymous said...

Courts are revenue collectors for the state. We send the money to Albany and we get back a part of the fines the courts impose.

That's the system. Nothing any town can do about it.

Net result. The court breaks even, fines are about the same, or a little bit more, than the court expenses.

Anonymous said...

Did you know that you, PAUL J FEINER, are responsible for negotiating the contract you are now ridiculing?
Why did YOU agree to pay double time for that work?
Stop shifting the blame - YOU are responsible!

Anonymous said...

Enlighten us as to what contract you are referring to.

Anonymous said...

All Town employees are represented by unions. The contracts come up for renogotiation periodically (usually every second year) and that is THE ONLY TIME CHANGES - LIKE WAGES, HOURS AND WORKING CONDITIONS can be changed.
Mr. Feiner is the person who is responsible for negotiating on behalf of the Town - and he is legally required to sign the negotiated contract.
Double time payment for snow removal on Sundays is a provision of a contract he negotiated and signed. For him to suddenly question the provision is the worst form of lying to the public. The Town agreed to pay double time because PAUL FEINER agreed to pay double time - and he signed the contract making it a requirement.
STOP THE BULLSHIT NOW!!!

Anonymous said...

If the DPW has this signed contract on double time on Sundays for snow removal please post it on the blog.