"
Andy B

My apologies...I checked with our newsroom and they are experiencing some technical difficulties.
The video should be up by the end of the day Friday. "

" I just looked and couldn't find the video is it up yet? "

" I had the privilege to attend the State of the City/County luncheon at the Holiday Inn today. Thank you to the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce and Tompkins Trust for hosting and sponsoring the event. The lunch was quite tasty, the folks were pleasant and that is where my enjoyment ended.
Not since Emmitt Smith left Dallas to finish his career as an Arizona Cardinal have I been this shell-shocked!
There were many remarks made concerning the state of the city and county, a bit of back-patting and many challenges reviewed that our area faces. While the city manager’s remarks were mostly upbeat, the county assessment seemed more like a “Pity Me” session. I didn’t know if County Manager Wayne Allen had just fallen off the “Woe is Me” Express or if he was providing bullet points as to why he should surrender the fort. I certainly did not get the sense that the state of the county was strong, but in fact, very ominous! I am still trying to figure out whether or not the county has any responsibility for the community’s future whatsoever, or if it is so shackled by state mandates that it might as well fold up its tent and go home.
The part that brought me to my Emmitt Smith analogy arose during the Q&A session when a question was posed regarding consolidation of services.
The answer that was given by the county manager explained that the consolidation type changes need to come from the public. He stated that it would take grassroots effort to get some of these changes made.
My question: Where is the leadership from our elected officials?
Barely able to contain myself any longer I stood up and asked that very question. We as voters and taxpayers put these people in office to investigate what is best for our towns, villages and county.
For heaven’s sake propose a plan, suggest a solution and look to the public for input. For our elected officials to turn this back around and almost blame “the people” for the lack of change is not only ludicrous but it is insulting!
If you are not willing to do anything to improve our community, resign and we will try to get someone in office that will.
Please watch the video of the state of the city/county luncheon on this website and see for yourself. It should be posted around 5p.m. Please share your opinions of what our leaders believe is the state of our community.
"

"
telldastory,

I am in the process of looking into the issues you raised regarding Owasco's water.
As for the trash pickup, I personally prefer curb pickup as a matter of convenience. Surely everyone has their personal preference. I currently pay nearly $400 per year for a contract hauler to pick up trash. If the town contracted for this service based on the rates cited from other towns, it could cut my fees significantly. That would be a win for me.
As for the recycling center running in the red, I see it as a potential "glass half full" situation.
I am dismayed it was allowed to operate with questionable measures of accountability however I laud the current efforts to uncover it and hopefully make it right. I offer kudos to Town Councilor Ed Wagner for digging into it and bringing his findings to light.
Provided something is done to quickly rectify the situation I am hard pressed to complain about it at this point.
"

" The Southern Cayuga School District is struggling with the idea of buyouts for the most seasoned teachers in their district.
School district consolidation will help relieve some of the expense burden on the 7 districts in Cayuga County. This is yet another reason that district consolidation makes sense for the county. "

" Where to even begin....

Let's begin with water. Rates have not been increased since 1992, rather they have been upping the ad valorem tax to make up the difference. The Town is selling water under contract to Fleming for less then it sells to it's own residents, who by the way are paying the capitol improvements so we could sell to Fleming. A violation of Town Code: § 144-30. Users outside Water District.
The Town Board may enter into a contract or contracts for the sale of water to users not within the Owasco Water District Rates for such use shall be specified in each contract, provided that such rates shall not be less than the rates established for users within the District. In fixing such rates, the Board may consider whether any such applicant is by the Owasco Water District as a property owner within said District. Any contract for such service outside the District shall require the party requesting such service to comply with the provisions of this chapter.

They then did not bill several hundred for those ad valorem taxes for 20+ years. Recently many have been added but they still under-budgeted by at least $200K. Water rates are supposed to be increasing this July to over $17.50 for minimum use. Not very fiscally responsible to not raise water fees as costs increase is it?

I'm sure you have read about the deficit at the recycling center. What is your take on that? I don't really care if I have curb-side pickup or drive my trash there, but I do care that we are paying people to do jobs that are not getting done. That there is NO accountability or documentation of cash transactions. The place is nearly 50K in the red, and that is after the 50 cent bag increase! Our tax dollars could be put to better use or paid to people who would actually appreciate and do the work. "

"
Good Day telldastory!

Thank you for your post. Can you offer some specifics(water, assessments, town resources)?

If you would rather send a direct email you can reach me at: mark.kukiela@lee.net "

"
NYS Commission of Property Tax Relief Update

I received a letter from John C. Reid, the Executive Director of the commission.
The letter acknowledges correspondence shared by Senator David Valesky regarding the suggestion of school district consolidation. Thank you Senator Valesky!
Summarizing a few items of note:
The commission has a website: www.cptr.state.ny.us Check it often to stay informed about the commission’s work and upcoming meetings in nearby cities.
The scheduled meetings to date:
Thursday, March 20, 2008 Location: Rochester
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 Location: Buffalo
Thursday, April 10, 2008 Location: Syracuse
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Location: Albany
The Syracuse meeting location is yet to be determined.

There website includes a link to a 6 hour webcast of testimony the commission heard at its first meeting on March 5th.
There are online forms where you can submit ideas for property tax relief.
You can sign up to join the commission’s e-mail list to receive updates on the commission’s progress.
The letter was dated 3/7/08 which was prior to the governor’s resignation. When I contacted the commission’s offices I was told the meetings are still going to be held as scheduled. All press inquiries are being handled by the governor’s office and I have not been able to reach anyone at the number provided.
My hope is this bipartisan commission will still be allowed to gather data and present its findings to the governor. These efforts are critical to our future; please support this commission’s work.


"

" If you have ever had the privilege to have called 9-1-1 for an emergency in the city of Auburn, you should have a good understanding on how the system works. If not let me explain what happens. First a Cayuga County 9-1-1 dispatcher answers the phone and takes your information, as this is happening an Auburn engine and rescue truck are dispatched to your residence. After Auburn Fire has been sent the 9-1-1 dispatcher calls TLC dispatch and gives TLC's dispatchers the same information they had just obtained from the you as the caller. Once TLC receives the information they then dispatch the ambulance to your emergency. That is why there is a 2-3 minute difference in time from when the Auburn Fire arrives and when the ambulance arrives. Once TLC arrives to your emergency you will notice that there are now about 7-8 rescuers. One is always doing paperwork, one checking blood pressure, one or two asking questions, and the other 3 or 4 standing around waiting to help with whatever is needed. That is if you have had to call 9-1-1 for your residence. Now if have a car accident the same happens with the way the dispatch of the call happens the only difference is that the fire department does all the work and it seems as if TLC stands around waiting. I believe that there are more redundancies then just what The Taxpayer Watchblog has mentioned. "

" Tax men are so smart! "

" taxpayer watchblog
why dont you do a week long rida-a-long-with FD dept, then give your pro & cons to what you think could be changed. The others can chime in as to what they feel is necessary to the community?
"

" I love how as soon as you talk about trimming waste from the fire budget. You are suddenly labeled as anti-fire dept. "

" Taxpayer Watchblog,

You should take a good look at how the town you live in is fleecing its taxpayers. It will make you ill! "

" Good Day stevedallas

Thank you for your input. You seem to have experience in these matters. If I were a betting man, I would guess you are or have been a firefighter. If that is the case, thank you for your service to the community.

In my original post I asked: Is it necessary for firefighters to respond to every slip and fall call in the city? Or could the ambulance service with trained paramedics responding suffice? As I understand it, when the fire department responds for this type of call, they bring an engine and a rescue truck with basic EMTs. The ambulance arrives with its own EMTs that offer advanced life support capabilities.
What's your sense? Could this redundancy be reduced without compromising public safety? "

" The fire department where I lived had a full time driver who would get a truck to the location. The rest of the firemen came directly to the fire. If Auburn had 10-12 full timers and the rest volunteers, you might find the system work very well this way. With an alert the full timers respond and set up the trucks and attack plan, as volunteers arrive their number will be enhanced. If it's a false alarm the full timers can get the word out to the volunteers before they arrive. Mixing a full time and volunteer department can be hard but, it's an idea. And as I said if you can't afford the full time number of Firemen what do you do? Pretend the problem is not there, that's how they got the over time charged. "

" Hillybilly, What he didnt mention was that it is closer to 30 minutes before they have those 30 to 50 people! Fire doubles in size every minute! Not bashing them but it takes time for them to leave there house or where ever they maybe to get to the fire house, wait for more help, drive to the fire, then setup an attack! "

" The taxpayer watchblog you say the question on the College Chargeback is an interesting one. However if we were to apply that logic to school taxes, people who don't have children in school should not pay school taxes.

Well, I am not applying this to the public Grade School system. I am saying if we don't stop this now we will be paying the Colleges like we pay the Grade School system today. But, with the colleges we won't get a vote on their budget, we will just get the bill. Plus grade school is mandated by law, college is not. Yes kids 16 and older can quit High School (which should be changed to must complete to obtain a drivers license-incentive to stay in school, this is a whole different subject).

Did you know that in this years budget from Spitzer he proposed a pilot program for the City of Syracuse. The program was for city children who qualified at a Jr. High regents level to be offered free tuition to SUNY or CUNY schools for the first two years? This means the state tax payers would be paying for these children to go to college. Again where in the Constitution is the College education of any child guaranteed to be paid for by the tax payer?

But, if this is not important then when your paying more for the "college tax" than you do for your "local school tax" don't complain. By the time it gets this bad I will be dead and this will be on the backs of the Young Pro's of today and even the kids of today who benefit from it.

As for the Fire Department problem Auburn has. If you can't afford the Department, disband it. Go to a volunteer system. The Fire Department might look at it differently then. I once suggested a combination of paid and volunteers but, no one listened. And as one writer says, they get anywhere from 30 to 50 fire fighters responding to emergencies. "

" Ithaca F.D. no longer supports volunteer's or students. The program was abolished.The program costs too much, too much training is required, and student's didnt have enough time. I do want to say being from a volunteer dept. that when we have fires we usually end up with 30 to 50 firemen on the scene not counting the ones back at mutual aid stations. I cant fathom trying to fight a fire with only 15. "

" In many college towns the night shifts are manned by college students who work for room and board. They receive training and are treated as "on call" firefighters. They are fed and housed at the station and receive a small stipend. As I remember Ithaca used this system. Is it feasible? "

" As Mark pointed out, there IS redundancy between the AFD and the ambulance service. If the ambulance is "not available that minute" as you stated, perhaps it's time City Officials begin looking into why it isn't available and work with TLC to correct the problem.

Regarding your point about the "magic" 15 number being for firefighter safety, it's baseless. If you lived in the town of Fleming and it wasn't staffed with a minimum of 15 firefighters 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and you had a fire at your house, would you stand out front and disallow them to help because only 11 showed up within the first 5 minutes? I certainly wouldn't and for two reasons.

1 - I can't count higher than 10 without taking off my shoes and socks and counting on my toes.

2 - They are trained much better than you and me to assess the situation and determine the potential risk at the scene.
"

" Dont bother magpie! Some of these people think they know it all, even tho they have no clue what goes on at a fire scene! "

" To all of you who are critising the Auburn Fire Dept. 15 man minium per shift. Also their response to all of the Calls. They have a Rescue crew, which is what it is for. Furthermore there are times that the Ambulance isn't availableat that minute. So their Rescue response depends on whether someone Lives or Looses thre Life. As for the 15 man minium per shift. Well that is not only for the Protection of the City, but for the Firefighters protection also. But it is very evident that people here don't think about protection. Of those Firefighters who risk their lives everytime there is a Fire here in this City. Instead of complaining about all of it Support them. Remember you may need their sevices some day and you'll be glad they were there. "

" Good Point Andy B!

Some fire officials have said the 15-person shift is necessary to maintain safety.
I would imagine that could be the case when firefighters are required to respond to every 911 call that comes in, even when ambulance service alone would be sufficient.
If this requirement were changed, the 15-person shift could be reduced without impacting safety. "

" I'm all for protecting the community and making sure our brave firefighters are well compensated. I don't see the point of a 27,000 person city needing 15 man mininum shifts. "

" Good Day Hillbilly!

The question on the College Chargeback is an interesting one. However if we were to apply that logic to school taxes, people who don't have children in school should not pay school taxes.
Can you imagine how high taxes would be for families with school children if they were the only ones paying for schools?
Interesting concept...but that may be stretching things a bit for now.
I will continue to push for consolidation first before I make that leap.
That said, please keep the thoughts coming. I appreciate the input. "

" Firefighter Contract

Simply stated; overtime spending needs to be brought under control.
The citizens of Auburn voted and put the former fire chief in office, knowing this issue loomed on the horizon. I have the utmost respect for Mayor “Chief” Quill, and appreciate his many years of service to this community.
If I were an Auburn taxpayer however, I would be concerned about having him at the helm during these negotiations. I believe it would be difficult for anyone to separate their allegiances in a similar circumstance.
Firefighters put their lives in each others hands. There may be no stronger bond than the one that exists among these brave souls.
Is it reasonable to believe that one year out of the uniform could diminish this type of devotion to his brethren?
However, let’s assume that is not an issue.
Let’s assume the union agrees to a fresh set of contract talks, following the city missing the contract negotiation deadline.
Let’s assume the city is willing to look for efficiencies within the current system.
I suggest investigating ways of controlling cost without compromising the protection of the community.
I would ask the city to look at the charter as it relates to firefighter responsibilities. Is it necessary for firefighters to respond to every slip and fall call in the city? Or could the ambulance service with trained paramedics responding suffice? As I understand it, when the fire department responds for this type of call, they bring an engine and a rescue truck with basic EMTs. The ambulance arrives with its own EMTs that offer advanced life support capabilities. Is this redundancy necessary? A reduction in responding to these types of calls may reduce the man-hours necessary per shift. At the very least, something could be done to reduce this redundancy.
Another suggestion with a force requirement of 15 firefighters per shift; explore the use of an “On-Call” system to reduce expenses. The department could maintain the required firefighters per shift with a specified number of the crew “on call”. This on call time would still be paid for but at a lesser rate. With the requirement that firefighters live within the city limits, they would never be too far from the station.
A strong fire department is perhaps the greatest insurance policy any city can have. Compromising that could be a detriment, yet I would encourage city officials to look at ways of doing things more cost effectively without putting lives in danger. This may afford greater opportunities to negotiate a suitable contract that is fair to the firefighters and the city.
What do you think?
"

" Tax considerations for Governor Spitzers. Did Eliot pay N.Y. State Sales Taxes for this service? How about any Fees, Surcharges or Assessments? Would his receiving this service while on Government travel constitute this as being a benefit earned from the state and if so did he pay income tax for the value of the service? Was this service paid for through "Petty Cash" from the State? If not then would the Prostitute be considered his employee and did he collect income tax and workers compensation from her wages? He's a big Tax and Spend kind of Guy, I'm just wondering if he paid his fair share? "

" Hey Mark,

I think you should dig into this Fireman issue for us. Get the numbers and the reasoning behind them for both sides. That way a proper discussion on the issue can take place. "

" Mark did you check your County Property Tax. Did anyone see the charge you pay for the College Charge Back? You ask what is this Charge Back. In a short note, it is the difference the Community College charges county residence, compared to the amount other state residence would pay to attend the college. Meaning you are paying for someone, who you do not know, to go to college. The county tax payer makes up the difference that the county resident pays and the amount charged to state residence. Some will say it is a small amount, mine was only a little over $15 this year. And that was after a 56% increase from last year. However, at a 50% increase for each year for the next 5 years, I will be looking at paying over $115 by 2013, even though I'm not going to college. I also ask, what kind of benefit do I(we) get for paying this tax? I(we) get NOTHING in return. And the only thing that will cause the tax to go up is if more residence from the county attend the Community College or if the tuition should go up. Well sad to say, with prices going up all over more people will be going to the Community College and the tuition will probably be going up too. Thus we will pay more for an education that we get nothing for. Consider this, a county resident who earns say $200,000 can send his kid to college and part of the tuition will be paid by the retired couple down the road who need to decide to pay for their medication or for food. Is this right and just? This tax or College Charge Back or what ever else you want to call it, needs to be repealed this year. Besides being, in my view, Unconstitutional, I think any person attending college needs to pay their own way. If the college wants to give them a break then don't plan on the tax payer to pick up the tab. Tell me did anyone else read their tax bill to see what they are paying for? Oh, by the way Onondaga, Franklin, and Chenango Counties do not have this charge in their County tax bills. And Onondaga county does have a SUNY school in the county that residence attend. So, as far as I can tell, this is a Cayuga County tax only. What would your opinion be about this? "

" Good Day "cm"
Thank you for your input. The system you mentioned is interesting. Would you kindly share what state and community you are from?
If you please, you can email that information to me directly in lieu of sharing it here:
mark.kukiela@lee.net
I do not believe we need a 20-member school board. One suggestion might include having one representative from each of the current school districts to comprise the new Cayuga County School District Board of Education. This new board would be a smaller than the one that currently exists in the Auburn Enlarged School District alone. Therefore we would save additional money simply by reducing the total number of school boards and members that currently exist throughout Cayuga County.


"

" Andy B

Thank you for the clarification. Your capital improvement suggestions make good sense in my mind. Furthermore, with the artificial turf battles that continue to rage in our area these districts could learn lessons from what other school districts have done for stadium refurbishments. Consider Washington County, Maryland for example that built a brand new multi-use stadium. What got the ball rolling was community effort, fundraisers and contributions. It didn't start by immediately asking the taxpayer to foot the bill.
Midway down the page on this link you will see the update on the project from 2005: http://www.wcboe.k12.md.us/board_updates/011805.cfm
I know I am going to sound like a broken record and someone along the way will say "Why don't you go back to Maryland?"
But I live here and I am tired of paying for an overbloated system.
The following link contains a recent update regarding the North High stadium project:
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=148461&format=print "

" Our area has 1 superintendant for the county of about 20+schools.
The plus side is you save monies on lesser superintendants pay.
The minus is they have a board person per school -so you lose monies for paying salaries to over 20+ people.
They never seem to have enough money and are always making cuts in the budget.
I still have to buy and send in paper towels/tissues/disinfectant/and even toilet paper.
My opinion? I don't see a reduction of taxes using either system.
"

" In the short term all capital improvements should be used on infrastrucure features that lower energy bills. ie.. geothermal heating and cooling, better insulation/sealant, wind power, better windows, etc... "

" Oops! Typo. I meant to say "How are you going to get content for blogs if you don't pay for it? Referring to the earlier poster complaining about you being a Citizen employee. "

" Good Day Andy B!

I am not sure what your question refers to. Please provide further explanation of your question:
How are you going to conbtent for blogs if you don't pay for it? "

" How are you going to conbtent for blogs if you don't pay for it? By the way pooling resources and cutting waste for the districts would be great. "

" Thank you for your responses and input. The primary reason for bringing this information to light is to encourage our elected officials to look into viable solutions to what I consider to be a tax crisis. I understand Albany is considering legislation that would cap school district increases. Passing legislation that imposes tax caps on districts may help taxpayers; however it will do little to answer the question of where and how we are going to save money being spent.
Governor Spitzer announced the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief in January that is looking at this very issue.
The chair of the committee is the Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, and the committee is slated to provide a preliminary report by May 15 on school property tax caps. The final report is due December 1, 2008. Don’t let this commission complete its work without hearing from you.
Send a message online at: http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/CountyExecutive/email.html
Or write to:
County Executive
Thomas R. Suozzi
1 West Street
Mineola, NY 11501
(516) 571-3131
Please be clear, I am not anti-education. I am concerned about our future and believe it has become far too expensive to live here.
I invite and encourage readers to offer information, research and opinions on these topics and their experiences with other education systems. In national rankings according to the www.nces.ed.gov website, Maryland’s education surpasses New York in many categories. For example the following are rankings for 8th grade public schools:
New York Maryland
Writing 21st 10th
Mathematics 34th 16th
Reading 27th 21st
Science N/A 32nd
I know there are complexities that exist that I am not privy to, and that no system is perfect. However, when there is a model available that saves considerable amounts of money and proves to measure up with solid educational results for the money spent, I believe it should be examined.
Finally, the day my blog is censored is the same day it will end.
"

" Nice premise for a blog, but seems it would do much better without an employee (Citizen)run/censured blog.

I agree with his statement as I see spending a little high. But there is more to consider than numbers. People, children, and the quality of the education.

It seems hard to believe that the county in Maryland has SUCH a better education than here.

"Little Boy Blue" needs to do more research and present more facts before crying "Wolf".
"

" I was born in Cayuga County and visit "home" at least twice a year. I am in North Carolina now,and I can tell you my ad valorem taxes were about $600 on a $176,000 house. Bear in mind that it is not just a school tax,it is an "everything" tax. Schools take a big chunk of that but it also covers social services,sheriff's dept.etc. There are other revenue sources of course. Our county has 17 schools. But we have one school superintendent and staff,one bus garage etc.for about 8,300 students countywide. Now Cayuga County is pretty long,so not including Auburn City,the three districts North and the three districts South could surely benefit from some consolidation of administration and services. Has it ever been studied at all? Granted one template is not going to fit all situations,as there are various obstacles to overcome,not the least of which is the tenacious clinging to local supervision and control. But somewhere,you have to admit,money is being flushed down the John. I failed to mention that our Community College is also part of our school budget. Another 1,600 students. Of course they do have their own administrative and maintenance staff. "

" I grew up in Auburn and lived there until the age of 25. I left to teach in NC. All schools are county based. While, it seems good economically, the school systems (based on county) are actually more expensive to run. There are longer bus routes, more expensive over head costs, and more bureacracy. If we actually concede to this idea then we are saying to our students, parents, and overall community that schools will no longer be approachable, teachers will no longer have a voice, and students will end up losing out in the long run. Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is facing losing two suburbs because of the ineffectiveness of the consolidation and there needs are not being met. "

" If we are going to turn around the bleak economic picture and keep our young people from leaving the area, we must reduce property taxes. Efforts to consolidate town, village and school district services is one way to accomplish this. "

" I was born and raised in Auburn, NY and have lived here most of my life. My wife and I moved to Hagerstown, MD (Washington County) about 7 years ago and returned to New York in 2005. While in Maryland, we sold a home for $300,000 for which we paid less than $2000 a year in total taxes. We now live in a home in Owasco we purchased for $172,000 and pay nearly $5000 per year in taxes. One reason for this lop-sided comparison I can point to is our school district make-up.
In Maryland, school districts are comprised of an entire county of schools. One county has one school district with one superintendent, business manager, staff etc. Here in Cayuga County, if my figures are accurate there are 7 school districts; with 7 superintendents, 7 business managers, staffs etc. These positions and support staff alone account for millions of taxpayer dollars each year. Is this spending necessary?
I have analyzed 05-06 figures from the New York State Education Department's website, which provides figures for each school district in the state. I also used figures from the Washington County Maryland School District for the same school year.
In Washington County, there were 20,000 students, 44 schools and their budget was $157.7Million.
In Cayuga County, we had 11,000 students, 24 schools and budgets totaled $126.9Million.
In comparison, we have 58% the number of students as in Washington County and 55% of the schools; yet we are spending 81% of what they are spending and have 7 times the number of school districts they have.
Taxes in our state are far too high to sustain livelihood and I believe our school spending is a large contributor. I believe we should consider consolidating the 7 Cayuga County school districts into 1 district as an initial means of saving taxpayer money.
What do you think?
"