Friday, October 30, 2009

BUDGET MESSAGE 2010

BUDGET MESSAGE - PROPOSED 2010 BUDGET
CONTINUING THE DOWNWARD TREND IN TAX RATE INCREASES
OUR CHALLENGE - TO DO MORE WITH LESS


HOW THE BUDGET IMPACTS YOUR TAX BILL
I want to report to you that for the second year in a row we have continued to rein in the cost of government as is reflected in the downward trend in tax increases and spending in both the incorporated and unincorporated sections of Town.

TOWN OUTSIDE (UNINCORPORATED)
If adopted as proposed the average homeowner in unincorporated Greenburgh, with a $15,000 assessment, will pay an additional $161.28. The average tax bill for town services will be $2,516.40 in 2010. This represents a 6.85% tax hike. Less than one fifth of an unincorporated resident’s entire tax bill pays for town services.

TOWN ENTIRE (INCORPORATED)
If adopted as proposed the average village resident, with a $15,000 assessment, will pay an additional $6.20. Their average tax bill for town services a year will be $75.54 in 2010. This represents an 8.94% tax increase. Less than 1% of a village resident’s tax bill pays for town services. Most services offered to village residents are provided by their village governments, not the town.

Members of the Town Council and I will continue to work hard to reduce the cost of government to you, the taxpayers, while we continue to provide the services that we all feel are essential to the quality of life in Greenburgh. In 2010, we will be asking our town departments to operate with less funding. We will look for ways to reinvent the way we operate government so we can offer government services at the lowest possible cost. We will continue to pursue consolidation, outsourcing and other cost cutting measures. In addition, we need to actively lobby NYS government to enact reforms to enable local governments to reduce unnecessary government spending. We must also address the ongoing reduction in our ratables.

USING NO FUND BALANCE IN B FUND
FUND BALANCE HAS GROWN TO MITIGATE ANY UNEXPECTED EXPENSES
We did NOT use any of the unincorporated (B Fund) fund balance to balance this year’s budget. That is something we haven’t done as part of our budget discipline since before the year 2000. We estimate that the B fund unreserved fund balance will have grown by approximately $2,000,000 between 2007 and the end of 2009. A larger unreserved fund balance will help to mitigate any unforeseen financial problems as we continue to work our way through these tough economic times and more accurately align our revenues with our expenses. We are appropriating $1.6 million of the A fund balance compared to $3.5 million that was appropriated in 2009. We will be scheduling a public auction of surplus properties to generate additional revenue.

2010 BUDGET SEEKS TO BALANCE SERVICE NEEDS AND TAX CONCERNS
In the face of significant revenue declines and increases in costs outside of the Town’s control we have to make difficult choices. Many of our residents are out of work or concerned about losing their jobs. Retirement savings losses and steep declines in home values compound this financial distress. In light of this, any tax increase is too much. However, many Greenburgh residents are equally concerned about any service declines. Our mandate is to represent our community fairly. The 2010 budget seeks to balance the need to restrain tax increases with the services needs and expectations of all our residents.

MORTGAGE TAX REVENUE TO TOWN DOWN BY 41%
NYS MANDATED PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS UP 67% IN A BUDGET
PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS UP 33% IN B BUDGET
Revenues the Town has depended upon in the past have declined, much of which are directly related to the weak economy:

* Mortgage tax revenues are projected to be $1.4 million lower than in 2009. This is a 41% reduction.
* Sales tax revenues are down approximately $700,000 or a 12.5% reduction.
* Assessed valuations decreased by $7.6 million which negatively impacts the tax rate.
* While revenues have declined, some expenses have gone up.
* The town is now mandated by New York State to increase contributions to the pension fund.
* Pension expense in the A fund went up 67%.
* Pension expense in the B fund went up 33%.
* There were additional six figure expenses mandated such as the MTA payroll tax.

COST CONTAINMENT
Despite the bad news highlighted above, expenses have been cut to achieve a 2.8% increase in the operating expenses in the B budget and a slight decline in the A budget compared to last years budget. Every department made difficult cuts to achieve our goal of keeping taxes as low as possible.

REDUCED AUTHORIZED JOBS
COURT ADMINISTRATOR TO BE HIRED
The 2010 budget reduces the number of paid positions through attrition. At the suggestion of Judge Charles Apotheker, Supervising Judge for the 9th Judicial District Justice Courts, $75,000 is being appropriated for a new position: Town Court Administrator. The duties will include daily monitoring of finances and assure accountability of the court clerk and other court employees. The administrator will recommend policies and procedures, report to the Town Justices and report to the Town Board. The Town Court Administrator will adopt policies and procedures in either of the following ways: with the unanimous consent of the three Judges or with the consent of two of the Justices and the approval of the Judge for the 9th Judicial District Justice Courts.

To offset these revenue declines and expense increases we have made many painstakingly considered choices. There are reductions in controllable expenses and increases in fees across a broad spectrum of categories. The town is continuing its practice of not filling positions as employees leave. The presentation of this proposed budget is Step One. The Town Board has until December to approve a final budget.

In the coming weeks the Town Council and I will be meeting with neighborhoods, civic associations and community leaders. I feel strongly about the need to limit tax rate increases. Any changes which increase expenses should be fully offset by other expense decreases. If we don’t continue to cut expenses, the town could face problems in the future.

I want to thank the other members of the Town Board for working in partnership with me on the proposed budget. We’ve been meeting for a number of weeks reviewing line items in every department budget. I would also like to thank Bart Talamini, Town Comptroller, for his hard work and dedication in the preparation of this budget. Alan Hochberg is the chair of the citizens commission addressing fire consolidation issues. He has also volunteered his time, helping to shape this budget. Finally, I would like to thank each of the commissioners and department heads for their efforts to continue to do great work with less funding from the town. During this period of fiscal austerity it’s their challenge and ours to do more with less.

I would also like to thank our very dedicated town workforce for voluntarily agreeing to the sacrifices they made to help address these difficult budgetary times. The CSEA membership voted for a zero percent salary hike in 2009.

Sincerely,



Paul J. Feiner
Greenburgh Town Supervisor

P.S. The entire town budget is posted on the town’s web site www.greenburghny.com

94 comments:

is dumb said...

I must be dumber than a rock. Where in the crazy mess of a website is the 2010 budget? It is NOT under documents and forms (why this category is used is a mystery) as usual.

Anonymous said...

Were reserves pulled down from other than the A or B budgets?

Anonymous said...

Sale of real property 2009 750K (NOT) to 2010 tentative 2.5 MILLION. Boo! Scary stuff!

Anonymous said...

So now you give this guy Hochberg a new job to deal with veterans.
What kind of a job will he do with our veterans when he cannot handle the consolidation of the fire dept.

Anonymous said...

Trick or treat!
TDYCC Estimated to be over budget by 151K in 09. 108% of actual 2008 costs! Transfers into line sometime after 09 budget approval amounting to 57K. Where is the rest of the money coming from?
TDYCC 2010 tentative budget to be reduced by 8% but who would care? Don't believe it. Paul will make transfers into the line when it suits him. All you can eat BBQ/Family day? Xposure?

Yes folks!

The TDYCC 2009 expenditures are 8% higher than the 2008 actual expenditures and 5% higher than the 2009 budget.
*blink blink*

Anonymous said...

Also kinda funny to see that Xposure goes down from $150,000 in 2009 to $115,000 in 2010, but at the same time the line item for "Part-time Education Programs" in the Community Center budget goes from $122,734 to $162,000 -- an increase of $40,000! Who does Feiner think he's fooling? And the Lanza money for Xposure drops from $108,670 to $47,000. Something very fishy is going on here.

Water Fees up 84% said...

Here's another weird thing. Income from water meters goes from $5,248,962 in 2009 to $9,649,146 in 2010 an increase of $4.4 million or 84%!!! I know Feiner said fees were going up, but an 84% increase in my water bill? Are you kidding???

Anonymous said...

Here's a good one. While Feiner complains about 4% raises for firefighters, he's proposing to increase the salary for the commissioner of public works from $121,223 to $141,917. That's 20 grand in a single year or 17%.

And the deputy commissioner of public works gets his pay hiked from $106,590 to $130,000, which at nearly 24 grand amounts to a 22% raise.

Yeah, times sure are tough.

Anonymous said...

Parks Dept Perks A Plenty

Wish I could work there, then I would get paid to live at Hartsbrook. All this money for a 90Day a Year Operation.
Long live Tennis and the Pools!!

Anonymous said...

There's also some awfully curious amounts for revenue being counted too. Out of the blue, we've got a new New York State "legislative grant" for $350,000. Really? For what? How confident is Feiner that that money will be delivered?

There's also a new community development block grant for $293,000. This year the Town says it received $12,000 in CDBG money. How confident is Feiner that this $293,000 will be delivered?

Hey, it's great to get government grants, but if this money is anything like the $2.5 million the Town has budgeted in revenues from the sale of its surplus property, a number which includes the $750,000 it budgeted as revenues to be received this year that weren't received, then we taxpayers are in a good deal of trouble.

It's Gotta Stop said...

Paul enough already with all the tax hikes.It's time to cut. Look at Governor Patterson making BIG cuts, and Paul Feiner spends spends spend. Paul You need to stop spending. I can no longer afford as probally everyone else your Tax Hikes. STOP SPENDING NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Disagree. Did you hear what Harrison is proposing? A much bigger tax hike than ours. think this budget is damn good.

Waste, waste and more waste said...

Greenburgh's "damn good" budget includes millions of dollars for two separate town recreation departments, each with its own set of highly paid commissioners, hundreds of thousands of dollars for a meals on wheels program for seniors in Mount Pleasant and Eastchester, a substantial six-figure allocation for an after-school program for Greenburgh Central 7 kids, when every school district in unincorporated already has its own after school program, $66,000 for Feiner to have his own "confidential" secretary, another $52,000 for a consultant who serves as the town's "arts council," plus $28,000 for an "energy consultant," and $165,000 for a police "SWAT" team that duplicates what the county already provides, and then there's the money for a marine police unit to patrol the Hudson. What a colossal waste of taxpayer money!

Anonymous said...

Oh,Bob (9:55), get over it. You lost once again. If you want to live in a village, do us a favor and move to Scarsdale.

Anonymous said...

Hey 9:59

Dispute the facts. 9:55 is correct.

No matter who you think it is.

Anonymous said...

9:12 & 9:59: If you are so delighted, please send me a check for my $240 town tax increase. I'll let you guys go in $120 each (oh wait, you are the same person!) I felt fortunate to get a 3% salary increase this year. How many people in Greenburgh got anywhere near 7%?

Anonymous said...

9:55 is correct. Get rid of all the mentioned programs and save about a half a million dollars. Thats just the tip of the iceberg.

Anonymous said...

Just took a quick look at the budget and noticed 65,000 for leaf removal. Why is overtime required? Since the new dept. head took over my leaf bags are picked up with in a day or two of being bagged. Great work Mr. Carosi and all done within the work day. Require all residents and gardeners to bag leafs and save 65,000.

Anonymous said...

After reading the comments that are posted on this site for many months I was sure that the tax increase was going to be big. I am relieved. The hike is in line with tax increases elsewhere. Good job!

Anonymous said...

KUDO's to the town staff for getting the budget on town website the same day the budget was released. This is transparent government!

Anonymous said...

*waves to Paul @ 9:12 again @11:43 & 12:13*

This budget sucks.

Paul @ 11:43 & 12:13 said...

Paul,

I guess you were up late last night! YOU HAVE NO SHAME! End your anonyomous posting.

edgemont is the key said...

edgemont is trying to get away from feiner and his phony budgets. problem is the 2005 incorporation study is now either outdated or flawed. so edgemont is back to square one. how disappointing as only when edgemont leaves will the sheehanigans in the budget be rooted out because the rest of unincorporated will lose the edgemont subsidy.

Anonymous said...

The 2005 Edgemont incorporation study was "flawed" only in the sense that it assumed Edgemont would have to spend a lot of money to purchase land for a village hall, a community center and a pool. In fact, Edgemont can become a village without those things, it can lease space for a village hall just as Rye Brook did for 13 years back in 1982, and if it does, it will be able to deliver essential municipal services for Edgemont alone at a stable price that Edgemont residents can afford. It's not often that adding another layer of government will actually save taxpayers money. But in the case of Edgemont in Greenburgh, it will.

Anonymous said...

I like the spending cuts in this years budget.

Anonymous said...

There are two ways to look at what little real spending is being cut here. Either this was fat in the budget that should have been cut years ago, or we will now be experiencing service interruptions which are not being disclosed. Which is it, Feiner?

Anonymous said...

The budget increase for 2010 does suck. The 7% is due to the fact the the town board is once again raiding the fund balance for the "A" budget otherwise the increase would have been double digits. If you look closely at the budget you will see certain items decresed but look further down and you will see another item greatly incresed to offset the above item. I am not impressed at all. Feiner just didn't want it to look like Mike Kolesar was right in everything he said!!!

Paul at 9:16 said...

Can't you do better that that!!!

Anonymous said...

How can the Town possibly spend money on an Arts Person $52,000, $28,000 for an energy coordinator w/ a family conflict of interest, and an Exposure Program (over $100,000) which excludes most town children? It is ludicrous and criminal.

Anonymous said...

We need to demonstrate a no confidence vote against Paul on Tuesday. Write ins should be encouraged.

edgemont reporter said...

edgemont being part of greenburgh insulates it from the low income housing the county is shoving down our throats

about the only good thing about being part of unincorporated

Anonymous said...

The lack of buildable, affordable land insulates Edgemont from the county's affordable housing settlement, regardless of whether or not it incorporates. Edgemont already has more than 900 apartments along Central Avenue, most of which are affordable and serve the local workforce. Those 900 apartments constitute more than one third of the total Edgemont housing stock. The existence of a town board that could give a rat's ass about the impact of any kind of additional multifamily housing on the Edgemont school district, be it luxury, workforce or low-income, is reason alone to want an all Edgemont village government deciding zoning and planning matters.

Feiner needs to update emails/blogsite said...

to anon 4:14PM could not say it better people please write in Mike Kolesar and send a message to this so called Part tome Supervisor employmnet agent. We need to send Paul a message of some kind.

Anonymous said...

This budget is a JOKE! Where are the substantial, impactful, cuts? Why are we still spending millions & millions on SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS.

We need to get this man out of office by pushing for term limits. No one wants to run against him because he has a fat war chest. It's an unfair advantage that he does and if we had term limits, no one could stock piled money like this ever again. We need to get him out!

Anonymous said...

In my household there will be three write ins.

Thisw guy thinks he is set because he has money but wait till the next election.
He will be surprised.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Feiner

Another Town Court Administrator at the tax payers expense.

Anonymous said...

Let's follow thru with some of the accusations concerning how the town is being run and maybe yes maybe we could be looking at impeachment.

edgemont village - fact or fantasy said...

rye brook incorporated in part because they looked at the town board and said - these are not the folks we would elect plus there was some added zoning and planning issues.

one thing rye brook has that edgemont lacks is proximity to an airport which is what drove lots of businesses to relocate to rye brook whcih back in 1982 had room to grow.

thats one way rye brook has been able to keep a handle on taxes

edgemont has lots of legacy costs with greenburgh which will not go away. edgemont is also, unlike rye brook, bereft of parks.

what edgemont has is feiner at the helm and his crew. is that enough motivation to form a new village? are there enough zoning and planning issues to merit a full blown adios? is feiner's 2010 budget so out of touch with fiscal reality that edgemonters say, we have had enuf and cannot take it anymore?

unless those who favor incorporation can show (and not tell) conclusively that incorporation will lead to lower taxes and better services, and that there will be people to run for office in the new village, incorporation will continue to be roundfiled.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 8:27 is either engaging in self-serving revisionist history or he or she is just making things up. Rye Brook incorporated because the taxpayers in the unincorporated area of the Town of Rye felt they were subsidizing the Village of Port Chester, much like today's Edgemont taxpayers feel like they are subsidizing the north side of the Town's unincorporated areas. Edgemont's tax base is solid. It already supports a nationally-ranked school district and a fire district that ranks in the top third of the state. Rye Brook, by contrast, didn't even have a fire district. With the huge amount of taxes the town proposes to collect from Edgemont next year, and with the savings Edgemont will enjoy by being relieved of the Town's costs for Parks and Rec and the Department of Community Resources, Edgemont should certainly be able to furnish services equal to or better than what the Town will be offering, for the same money or less.

Anonymous said...

We are all hurting in this economy. My income is down 33%. We need certain services like police, fire and sanitation. Why do we need 2 rec departments, especially one that only caters to a small part of the town, TDYCC. This is 4 million dollars! or an after school program that is repetitive.

I don't get it.

Anonymous said...

Edgemont, Edgemont, blah, blah blah......

Can we focus on the facts of this awful budget instead of fictional land of Ozmont?

Anonymous said...

From the New Testament;

"Father, forgive them (the Town Board), for they know not what they do." Many of these budget proposals (one shoters and gimmicks) are something else.

Anonymous said...

These are the very same gimmicks and one shooters proposed in the 09 budget amount to nothing. It's very scary.

Anonymous said...

town is well run. AAA bond rating. Rated among the best in america. Only the bloggers hate the town and its government. and there are only a few of you.

Disgruntled Greenburgher said...

Just how scary isn't really apparent until one looks at the $2.5 million supposedly coming from the sale of land.
Take Parcel 25. Listed with an upset price of $250,000 (that is, a full 10% of the estimated sales revenues).
Comprised of over 2.25 (or is that 2.614, see below) acres of land in Edgemont, it looks like a bargain.
Now examine the Assessment Record - helpfully included as part of the online package on the Town's website.
The subject property appears to be 2,614 acres with frontage right along the Sprain Brook Parkway, extending south from the Ardsley Road overpass. Even the Assessment Record notes with dry humor, "Difficult access".
Then there are the steep slopes which would appear to restrict the buildable area to "1.813 units", according to the property card. (So even if some clever developer decided to purchase the property he'd be restricted from building, oh, say 87 bedrooms. he can't. No way he'd be able to claim a mapping error, though nothing precludes the Town Board from promising a zoning adjustment.)
Do you honestly believe the Town will receive $250,000 for this piece of completely undeveloped, and probably undevelopable, land?
How badly flawed are the other minimum prices? Well, can anyone in his right mind think the old Water Wheel property will sell for a minimum of $1.25 million (that's fully half of the budgeted amount of revenues from land sales)?
Forget the fiction of filling even a modest portion of the budget gap through 'sales of surplus Town-owned land'. There is no way a 0.04 acre piece of land virtually adjacent to Edgemont's Superlawyer on Old Colony Road will sell for any amount at all - let alone the "upset" price. How about a parking space in one of the co-ops on Central Avenue for a mere $10,000? There are 3 of them listed.
Get real. The money not raised from the land sale will be transferred from the fund balance - unless there is some other secret Santa the Supervisor has in mind.
Stop accepting the lies - just vote "NO" on Tuesday.

Disgruntled Greenburgher Too said...

Dear Paul at 8:47
The truth is the Town is very poorly run.
Depleting the fund balance, which seems likely given the fictitious amounts for land sales and government grants, will reduce your precious AAA rating to a more realistic B.
Lying to the voters is dumb. The truth will come out eventually.
Write in "NO" on Election Day.

ed krauss said...

Dear Paul Feiner, under each and every anonymous posting you make.

Are you criticizing Bernstein because you can't refute his facts?

Your 11:43 posting, patting yourself on the back for "bringing in a 'low' budget." Entre nous,we know that which is presented is virtual and/or ephemeral. After 1/1/10 magical tranfers will be made and the fantacy savings will disappear faster than bagels and lox when Yom Kippur ends.

As far as your AAA ratings Bs Bs Bs. The rating services also attributed AAA ratings to bonds consisting of bundled subprime mortgages, which is a prime factor as to why we're in the economic downturn we're in.

SNAFU, coined during WWII, in Greenburgh stands for: Situation Normal All FEINERED Up.

Have a nice day.

P.S. I think you should spend more time in Subsaharan African so you can acclomate your body to where you will be going in your after life.

Anonymous said...

8:47: Actually you are correct. Only a few hate the town government. However, just look at the voting totals to realize that almost as few actually support Paul Feiner (what is the highest vote total he has ever received?). The vast majority of Greenburgh residents are hard working taxpayers who are inured to incompetent local government and are resigned to ever spiraling tax increases. They feel they have no voice and, regrettably, that their votes won't make a difference.

Anonymous said...

Paul was busy this morning. After posting the Halloween update at 8:43 a.m., he came right over here to post his typically pithy (and semi literate) rejoinder at 8:47 am.

Anonymous said...

Ed: A few weeks ago some of the anti Feiner critics predicted 17% tax hikes. two years ago you predicted 22% tax hikes.
Egg on your face.

hal samis said...

Sorry to interrupt but...

hal samis said...
Mr. Feiner not only deleted the entire topic that this post originally appeared in at greater length but he has also deleted it here today.

Taken from Mr. Rosenberg's launch of his new invective against me.
Scroll up to 10/31 @ 10:13am for the substantiation.
"I had a good idea that Mike would be fired a few days before the famous speech to the ECC, because two members of the Town Council told me with anger that Samis had foiled for a Kolesar document before they, as Board members had even received it. Indeed, I became angry with Samis because I believed that he was the major cause for Kolesar’s firing. To him it was more important to be constantly on the attack, and if compromising Kolesar was the result then that was OK with Samis."
Mr. Rosenberg ends his posting(s) with the caution that does not intend to respond to me further at length because:
"Now go to it, Samis and friends. There will be nothing more from me except short postings that say “He lies again.”
10/31/2009 10:14 AM"

Following this I authored a number of posts asking Mr. Rosenberg to confess to his own sins but he has, so far, decided to take the blog equivalent of the fifth amendment.
It is fitting and ironic that according to Mr. Rosenberg's take, that Mike Kolesar was fired because he leaked information. That has not been verified and will be decided by a Court at such time when and if Mr. Kolesar decides to do so and has the funding to pursue such a remedy.
But for the purpose of outing Mr. Rosenberg and to pose the notion that what's good for the goose is good for the gander, let's take a short trip down memory lane -- short because I do have an offline life to attend.

A few years back, Mr. Feiner leaked information to Mr. Rosenberg presumably because he sought Mr. Rosenberg's counsel -- although Mr. Rosenberg was neither officially or formally retained by the Supervisor.
This was at the height of the revolt of the then-existing Town Council against the Supervisor. Mr. Rosenberg denied publicly at a meeting of the Town Board that he had received such information from the Town Supervisor. Outraged by this, the Town Council (headed by someone representing themself as Francis Sheehan) had convinced the Chief of Police to launch a forensic investigation of the Town's email system for the purpose of discovery. Shortly after the investigation was underway, Mr. Rosenberg "allowed" that he had lied; but it was ok since it was just a little "white lie" because he wanted to protect the Town Supervisor from harm. Thereupon and for several months later until it died down (as Greenburgh news always does) an anonymous blogger, not me, always referred to Mr. Rosenberg as "white lie Rosenberg". Some of these comments may still exist on this blog in the archives section.
I conclude my coimments by advising Mr. Rosenberg to think about throwing stones when living in a glass house. I would have gone with the pot calling the kettle black but that would give credence to another Rosenberg lie -- "that I (Hal Samis) lie".
But most of all, I hope that Mr. Kolesar reads this and thinks about how it applies to him insofar as Mr. Rosenberg, self-styled insider and expert, has written about "alleged" reasons for Kolesar's termination. One might conclude that the Supervisor and Mr. Rosenberg have provided similar grounds for the Supervisor's termination -- even though other verifiable reasons already exist.
I predict that we'll be reading posts from a crew of new-to-the-blog virgins who have something vital to say. Only those anonymous persons supporting Mr. Rosenberg will receive the coveted Lerman seal of approval. Arf, Arf.

Anonymous said...

It's nice to see that the Library is open tomorrow on Election Day. Of course all the full time employees are getting 7 hours overtime pay or time off. Paul, did authorize this overtime?

hartsdale resident wondering about edgemont said...

if edgemont incorporates how will it provide police and dpw services?

will it still be able to use the library?

veteran pool?

ed krauss said...

11/1 10:42


it's obvious you are not in tune wit the sham called the Greenburgh budget. The 17% you refer to is the citizens advisory committess' estimate WITHOUT fund balance dollars. So too are the additions of evaporating revenue lines which disappear after eletion day.

Get wise, unless you're Feiner or an accolade. In that case you're as smart as you can get.

Anonymous said...

Dear Hartsdale Res,

My guess is Edgemont, which voted agaisnt the library, would be only so happy to be allowed out.

As to DPW and police, they could either have their own, or contract out.

As to Veterans, the pool is in massive need of capital improvement. Maintenance has been put off. For the same price, Edgemont can start their own pool.

bizarre response from edgemont said...

so edgemont will create its own police and dpw departments, its own pool, and its own library?

thats bizarre as none of the disputes about how dysfunctional the town is run revolve around any of these government functions outside of cutbacks in service.

the costs of doing the above will make the feiner increases look puny.

Anonymous said...

It doesnt need its own library -- look at Elmsford.

Why would it cost anymore to outsoure DPW? Police? TDYCC? Oh right, THERE WOULDNT BE A CHARGE FOR TDYCC.

edgemont observer said...

elmsford has library services
via a contract with one of the villages. its hard to imagine a village of edgemont without public library services.

the issue with edgemont is it has to pay the legacy costs of the bonds for the new greenburgh library but a village would not have to pay the yearly operating costs.

so, can edgemont still use the greenburgh libary?

DPW needs infrastructure and expensive equipment and a place to store and maintain it. What sense does it make to leave unincorporated only to turn around and contract with the town for the same services overseen by the same town board?

The same is true of the police. Dobbs Ferry for example has rejected consolidation with Greenburgh police for various reasons. these same reasons would apply to a village of edgemont.

where is edgemont going to build a pool?

as for the tdycc, you are right. the free ride from edgemont would be over and deservedly so.

so whats left? zoning and planning. thats really code for keeping what happened to residential development on central avenue from becoming a bigger problem for the school district.

this is certainly the most interesting issue in greenburgh where politics have otherwise died under feiner.

Anonymous said...

The TDYCC is a growing plague. The no-show jobs, the no-bid contracts, the nutrition program that serves more people outside of Greenburgh than in Greenburgh. The swim program that doesnt pay. The lack of controls that no one can even tell if it does pay. The after school program that not only costs money, but uses buses (shown elsewhere on budget line, not as afterschool).

Another Subsidy for Others said...

Why do the Towns of Eastchester and Mt Pleasant allow Greenburgh to provide meals to their residents if they could do it themselves cheaper ? This program defies common sense and basic finance.

Michael Kolesar said...

Dear Another Subsidy for Others:

File a FOIL request for the following Excel workbook:

MKOLESAR/2009 Budget/ Nuitrition Cost Analysis

This is just one of many electronic files that contain hard analyses about the financial mis management of the Town of Greenburgh that the Town will not release to me. Councilman Sheehan is the "doorkeeper". maybe you will have more luck.

samis was not fooled said...

you mean francis sheehanigans?

sheehan is the biggest disappointment in greenburgh politics. as the great samis remarked, what a difference the dais makes.

hal samis said...

Tennis anyone?

Tennis has been declining in popularity at the Town's courts almost as fast as the courts need to be restored. One of the attactions of having an operator like Sportime take over them was that it would spend the necessary money. On the other side, was that messy issue of who could use them and the even messier issue of a Town Attorney who was apparently working for Sportime rather than the Town.

But now we have another look at how the Town Board just can't bear to cut out unnecessary frills despite having left no stone unturned in its relentless quest to keep taxes down. That is unless the stone is the wife of a political connection of the Town Supervisor. Then, it's about face and move off smartly.

Just look at the budget for personnel providing tennis direction.

Tennis Director $32,077 (same as 2009)
Assistant Tennis Director, $10,955
(same as 2010)
Tennis instruction $46,354 (up from $42,276)
Private Tennis instruction $4480 (down from $5764)... but why is the Town even in the business of private tennis lessons?

$93,866 just on tennis salaries.
Any schools provide tennis instruction?

Now Mr. Byrne will try again this year and argue that some of this should be defrayed if you take into consideration that contributes to sales of permits to use AV Park. But he can't tell you
how much or whether tennis players also take a dip in the pool with the rest of the family.

And he can't tell you about the other costs to operate just the tennis courts, clerical, maintenance, etc.

In shorts, it is a big loss leader.
Just the kind of thing that we need to keep up the image of the
80th best place to live. Something that non-tennis players are apparently willing to do since this is one of my pet budget peeves year after year.

Another way to look at is that it's damn white of the Town Supervisor to keep the Lefkowitz family in service. To all other taxpayers, it's advantage out.

Write in Campaign said...

When you go into the voting booth the area for write ins is at the top of the panel. Just slide the window open and write in your choice. The windows have numbers that correspond to the position you are voting for. The Supervisor is 10 and the Town Council is 11 and 12.

Lets send a message!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Mike for the write in tip. Mike Kolesar for supervisor! Yipes!

Anonymous said...

Take a pen with you to write in your votes.

We have to send out a message that we are sick and tired of the present disgraceful representatives of Greenburgh.

If you need help at the voting machine the inspectors will assist you especially if it is the first time that you are voting in this manner.

LET'S SEND FEINER,JUETTNER AND SIR SHEEHAN A MESSAGE THAT WILL GIVE THEM FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
WE DON'T WANT YOU ANYMORE.

Michael Kolesar said...

I did not post any comment about writeing in my name. You owe me an apology, which of course I will never receive.

hal samis said...

I'm so disappointed.

Where is my online stalker.

Twelve hours later and no
"Samis is now an expert on tennis"

Probably too busy out buying votes.

hal samis said...

Asked, now answered, he went thataway. To the aid of the Arts Council where he had imported my Tennis, anyone from this topic.

Here's my reply to him when he thought he had me by the short hairs...the few I possess.

"hal samis said...
Dear 1:57,

Gee, you can cut and paste too, extracting and importing from a posting on the blog's Town Budget topic.

A posting starting with "Tennis, anyone?"

Unless you are masking a subtle approach to bringing up fire district consolidation, let me hasten to put out your fire.

This was only my humor, obviously lobbed over your head.
Here's what I wrote that struck you as gold to be mined.

"Another way to look at (it) is that it's damn white of the Town Supervisor to keep the Lefkowitz family in service. To all other taxpayers, it's advantage out."

Given that this was a post about whether all this tennis expense was something that should be continued in harsh times and rising taxes, maybe you should reread my quote.

A Primer for those with Poisened Paens

white...the traditional color found on tennis courts

in service...the ball is ready to be served and played (similar to court is now in session) or,

in service...the English (England) description of fetch and carry

English...putting spin on the ball
spin...how Feiner describes the budget

advantage out...the higher score is that of your opponent

And silly you, you species of a bottom feeder,

lobbed...a gracefully executed, high, arched ball return intended to make the receiver chase after the it (similar to a dog fetching)

Advantage in! Do not pass go, do not collect $200 but proceed directly to Jail which brings me to

And, where or when have I ever accused of Kapica of a racist slur?
I am as much in the dark as others on this blog (uh oh...instead of dark replace that with confused) and would welcome any explanation.

Careful, I've explained my use of white, now you should explain your use of "light" -- see below.

"what exactly is that supposed to mean in light of what the town should or should not spend money on?"

But do save my blog quotes. I hear that they're going for big bucks on Craigslist. Especially the ones that the Supervisor deletes. And with winter coming, you might want to collect snowflakes too. I hear there's someone in Florida willing to pay premiums for unusual designs.

One good flake deserves another.

11/03/2009 3:50 PM

Anonymous said...

How laughable - particularly re: the cut and paste snark - which you just did! Keep pedaling.

hal samis said...

Damn, caught cutting and pasting by
4:17.

Father I have sinned. Please forgive me and anyone else, even anonymous, for cutting and pasting.

p.s. forgive me for the "damn" too.

Anonymous said...

Hal Hal hal
Now you are an expert on tennis.........

hal samis said...

Thanks, I was looking forward to your acknowledgement. Maybe you know who it is: Some merry, anonymous scalawag keeps referring to back pedalling. Which of the Feiner team in their campaign picture alongside the bicycle knows where the pedals are?
That should narrow the field considerably.

Anonymous said...

Love that you are so far off the mark hal. Retire now for the evening and rest yourself for the next time you'll need to back pedal or, maybe, just maybe - the time you actually spend participating in this town on a COMMITTEE or a BOARD - oops! Forgot, no one wants you on anything.

hal samis said...

You are so wrong. Here I was genuinely concerned that I hadn't heard from you...You see I read about this thing going around called swine flu and I thought, naturally, that you had it.

Anonymous said...

Paul
Are you watching the election results ? Be very scared for 2011.

Anonymous said...

Paul
Are you watching the election results ? Be very scared for 2011.

Anonymous said...

Hal,

It is not much use because Feiner keeps deleting the posts but if you see this before he does, this is what happened:

Kapica personally threatened an African American prisoner by saying that he was going to get a noose and string him up in the parking lot of police hq. People heard this racist rant and Kapica apologized to members of the African American community. Feiner and Sheehan covered it up for political purposes.

Anonymous said...

Hal,

I guess there were not enough write-ins to name you Town Supervisor. Shame.... I would have LOVED to CONSTANTLY CRITICIZE YOU..... But then again...........

Anonymous said...

Hal,Hal,Hal

The town is well run, Look at Harrison, etc..........

hal samis said...

Dear 12:32,

Don't give up, you never know.

Anonymous said...

Feiner how many write in votes were there.

The board of elections can furnish you with the findings.

We need to know.

A Realist not a Racist said...

Why is it when someone has anything to say about TDYCC, whether it's accurate and verifiible they say it anonymously?

The cost of the Center is an albatross. The no show jobs are a disgrace. The outright stealing is unconscionable. The rationale, it keeps young blacks of the streets and away from crime, is or should be an offense to all decent Black families.

So why, myself included, don't we use our names to say what has to be said?

The reason is simple.Once you seemingly offend African Americans, whether it's real or perceived, you're labled a racist, despite the fact you are not.

Bashing Catholics, Italians, Irish, Polish, Jewish and pick any ethnicity is acceptable. In fact it's the new National Pastime. But one comment, innocent or otherwise against an African American and you have to live it down.

Given the aforementioned, I say to all who read this' TDYCC has to be taken off the Greenburgh books. It has to be leased, sold or anything other than retained.

Greenburgh is neither big enough nor wealthy enough to support the centr, its programs, its employees nor its management salaries.

At a time, not unsimilar to the 1930's where people were losing their jobs, their homes, their self respect, we can't afford the expediture of $3-4,000,000 a year and rising.

One rec department should be enough for a town the size of Greenburgh.

Anonymous said...

Can the poster of 4:18 PM explain where they got the $3.4 million from?

Thanks

hal samis said...

I'm not the poster at 4:18 who is asked by 6:28 where the TDYCC's $3.4 million comes from.

How about rounded $2.9 million on page 70 and $680,000 on page 72 which is already $3,580,000; then start looking through the book for the hidden items, for example, Xposure (Town's portion), budget transfers and you'll likely see a cost well over $4 million.

Anonymous said...

What Hal said +++ 640K for the Fairview Pool because having one town pool isn't enough. We must to have 2 more in Fairview.

Anonymous said...

10:14 IIRC, that 640K is for the indoor pool at TDYCC so it really should be part of the TDYCC budget.

What can't be found is Massaro Park budget or revenues or at least I can't locate them in the town budget. This is the 3rd pool you refer to.

Michael Kolesar said...

Hal, i saw your posting about the "cost' of the TDYCC and Fairview Pool. The true gross cost for these two operations is in the range of $ 4.3 million. i get this by adding "fringe" benefits. In the case of seasonal and part time employees, it is just the standard payroll tax of FICA and Medicare and now probably the MTA payroll tax, but let's say just for discussion 7.5%. the budget indicates about $650,000 in this category, so rounding that add $50,000. For full time employees, the average cost of benefits is between 45 and 50% of base pay. (I haven't analyzed this year's budget yet, but that was good last year ( 2009) and we know the pension and health costs are up significantly.) So as to not be accused of a bias, let's stay with 45%. The full time employees have compensation of about $1.1 million, so add another $500,000. Do the same for the Fairview Pool and you add about $225,000 in costs. Combined, that leaves $2.8 million + $550,000 for the Community Center, $682,000 + $225,000 for the pool or a "grand' total of just under $4.3 million. To that you would have to add any debt service on any improvements (and their have been some fair size investments in one or both).

There are other real, but allocated costs, such as insurance, if you didn't have a building and operations like a pool to insure, there would be real cash savings, etc. but why try to do this. Add another project for Mr. Hochberg.

Anonymous said...

Paul, Leaf is season is here. We need to save money. Hopefully you are not concidering the highway and sanition to be working on Saturdays and double time on holidays. To cut this kind of overtime would save alot of money.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the breakdown Mike. That's an awful lot of mulah!

Michael Kolesar said...

Follow up - Actually Bart Talamini and I discussed a number of additional analyses that would make the budget and the related policy decisions more transparent, but with limited staff, in my first year, we didn't have the time and resources to take it on. If one looks at the State Comptroller's handbook, one can see examples of alternative budget presentations. What the town currently receives is pretty much the minimum based upon the law.

To be fair, one should deduct from the gross costs, all of the revenues that the TDYCC and pool report (not necessarily earn as controls are so lacking, who knows what the true revenues are). The 2010 budget includes $230,000 for the TDYCC, $30,000 for Xposure and $118,000 for the pool or a total of $378,000, which suggest a true net cost of between $3.9 million to $ 4.0 million plus other itemms as I previously indicated.

Michael Kolesar said...

Another way to understand this is that the 2010 tentative budget calls for raising property taxes of approximately $50 million. So, if the net cost of these two activities is $ 4.0 million that is 8% of your unincorporated tax bill. The tentative tax rate for 2010 is $ 162.7238 per $1,000 of assessed value. The average residential property in unincorporated Greenburgh is approximately $ 18,500 ( don't believe the garbage that the Supervisor keeps citing about a property assessed at $15,000, that not the average)

Therefore, a residential property assessed at $ 18,500 will have an unincorporated tax bill of about $ 3,000 ( $18.5 times $162.7238) so 8% of that yields an average cost of $ 240 per year for the combined cost of the TDYCC and pool.

Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

Nice breakdown Mike!! Thanks! Can you do the same for Parks & Recreation? I'd love to see a total HH cost for both and look at how they compare to each other. One would assume P&R which serves many more people would be higher but I have a feeling it's not.

Digg It, Buzz Up Text Larger said...

Why is the separate $30,000 Xposure cost placed in the TDYCC budget instead of being added to the listed Xposure budget? Is this transparency?