Council passes $21 million budget, with tax increase, on 7-2 vote

nearly 40% of my mortgage payment goes into escrow for school and property tax...isn't that a bit ridiculous? I wonder how many properties will be in the city's auction next year..what a great deal for the city. Cut services, raise taxes, seize and sell property worth tens of thousands of dollars for an outstanding tax bill of a couple thousand dollars. Just doesn't seem right. Thanks for trying to stand up for us, Rose and Sam, without you we may be looking at a 8% increase or more.

This situation reminds me of the old Beatles song: Taxman.

And So It Goes Again, The Only Thing Accomplished, By Certain Members Of Council, Was a Raise For Non-Union City Workers...?? My, My, My.... More $$$$$$$ going out, and a big fat "0" for the taxpayers of Batavia. I think the message is quite clear, coming from some members of council. (We could give a hoot, what you people think, or what happens to you all financially in these hard times) and (We will stand firm on "our" decisions). Its about tit for Tat. (We'll teach that firemans union a thing or two). Sad, Sad , Sad... Burn us once, shame on us, burn us twice, shame on YOU! I think we all have learned a lesson, the past few weeks....

Two questions I would ask Marianne, Jason, and Kathy, about the unfair treatment of Mike Pullinzi, and the public humiliation you bestowed on him and his family, would be "Would You Have Done That, To One Of Your Family Or Friends")? Oh and- Are there any "Renters" in the NIC? After all,they are, a part of our neighborhoods.

I still don't get why Rosemary Christian, is not head of council. She clearly gets it, and has the best interests of the taxpayers, and Our City, Batavia in mind, but didnt win? I guess the other canidates, had more friends, in important places.
Rosemary, Sam, Bill, Bob, and Dan. Thank You, for your knowlege, keen intuition, and perserverance. It has not, gone unnoticed.

In these times when it's alot harder to pay weekly bills and manage on lower incomes; our city decides to raise taxes and squeezes the middle class, yet again. We need to run the city, like I run my household; if I can't afford it, I don't spend it.....get it. I know my council representative voted for this; and good luck next time getting my vote.

I cannot believe these people. I urge everyone to move out of Batavia, find a way. If this council really cared about this community, they would downsize themselves to five council members. They ask everyone else to do more with less and yet they have the gall to say how much they have on their plate to take care of within their ward. Many of us, have two or three jobs at minimum wage in order to try and maintain a roof over our heads and food on the table. I for one am glad I'm leaving the armpit of New York. Again, I implore you to find a way to leave. If you can't, then by all means vote in order to change things. On the election stage, your vote means so much more on the local level then in any other arena in politics. We should not be treated like a bunch of mushrooms, fed a bunch of horse manure and left in the dark. Being a disabled veteran on a limited income, leaves me with very few other options but to leave. I can't reduce my insurance anymore on the home, we have a strict budget we do, but these next round of increases has put us over the edge. Maybe someone can organize a "get out of Batavia" campaign so that we can all find somewhere else to go - Alexander, Bethany, Town of Batavia, etc., just a thought. So many bad decisions, a prime example - closing the police station at night. I am sure that the lady that got her face pummeled at the police station would agree!!! This council just will not listen to the people, so there are only two choices again. I have made mine - good luck with yours.

Karen,
Last meeting two weeks ago, only one person spoke about taxes.

This Monday two people spoke. One wanted no tax increase and one wanted MORE, for street repair.

That's a total of 3 people who bothered to show up.

John, i think people have come to the realization that it doesn't matter what the public wants, decisions have been made before the public gets to voice its opinion. Raises for city employees??? Give me a break!! Tax us more and give it to someone else, seems like the way of this country lately.

Dennis,
I think it does matter.

There were 3-4 times the people could have said something, but they didn't.

When only two people spoke at the last meeting, and one wanted MORE taxes, to fix streets, and one wanted none, what was Council to think? That was 50-50.

You look at the budget, and except for the pay raise for 6 full time and 11 part time people, and the Youth Department, there was very little that could be cut.

I spoke before about cutting the Youth Department, but nobody else did.

And on water rates, remember, Monroe County sets the rate. We have no say in the rate increases, none.

Howard,and John, I for one, will never attend a council meeting. To me, it would be like walking into a "Lions Den", or a Black Widow Spiders Nest. I also will never break bread, with people I dont trust, and would never grovel at their feet.
Some of council are like Wild-Cats backed into a corner. They are scurring around, trying to find money, to pay for all the lawsuits pending against the city. It is because of their negligence, and lack of action, lack of knowlege, selfishness, narrowmindedness, and blatent disregard, that the taxpayer have been "Tied to the Whipping Post". Whats the use? Its a losing battle... I find myself, a very disapointed "Voter". My Vote Made "NO" Difference. I shouldnt have bothered. I thought these people were appointed to work for us, the people of Batavia... Boy was I wrong.......

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I believe that the only way to make changes is to stand up and tell Council what you believe. Granted the best way of doing that is showing up to meetings. If you are not comfortable with going to the meetings, then the next best way is to send letters the our elected officials and local media groups. I think that it is sad that many of the residents in our City have this give up attitude. We have to as a community voice our opinions. We have to get excited about living here in Batavia and speak up for what we are believing. Last summer during my campaign, Phil and I met so many people who were wanting change, real change! We need these people now to start standing up to Council so that next year, the City Tax Payers will not be looking at another Tax increase!!!

Karen; I love this song, thanks. Not many people know this, but Gregg Allman used to (or maybe still does) own a house somewhere off of Hertel Ave in Buffalo. I said hello to him and Cher in the Eastern Hills mall around Christmas time in the late 70's. They told me thanks, but didn't want to hang around and talk for obvious reasons. He had the house because he could do things like walk through a mall, go to a bar etc and not be noticed often. True story, a friend of mine met him when he did some work on his car at a shop on Hertel Ave.

I am truly baffled by this feeling of hopelessness when it comes to local government. It’s nothing more than an excuse for a pure lack of real interest. With our National or State Government, I understand and share your concerns, they are both completely broken.

Making a rational pitch to individual Council members or if you’re so inclined a speech during a Council meeting will get you results. At the very least it will get you more information about why something is happening.

Charlie..The city budget seemed like a done deal when Malino presented it with a 3% increase in taxes.Frank Frerrando asked that it be cut down to a 1.5 %..So Malino came back and took out money that was to be added for equipment..That was the budget processes as i see it...Their was no other council involvement..All we here is we can't cut anything ...All they did was give out some raises...So why wouldn't the public feel hopeless..Many taxpayers called and wrote against this..How many called and wrote for the increase..I'll bet none..so it seems as business as usual at 1 City Center....The tax rate needs to come down and all they plan is to just keep on raising taxes.....

Mark, there is only one way to bring down the tax rate. Eliminate services or consolidate them away. The minute you want to talk about cutting jobs in this town, the outrage and yard signs come out.

Who in their right mind would talk about cutting something for real in this town? Oh, that’s right Phil did during the last election and he got smoked.

Don’t think for one second that fact is lost on those who won the election last year. It is better for local politicians to fain outrage and grandstand about insubstantial cuts than make the tough ones that need to be made.

To a point Charlie is right. What would you cut?
Cut Police? No public support
Cut Fire? No public support
Cut Youth? Read Phil's comment above
Cut Snow Plowing? Try to get to work
Cut Street repair? There are already too many pot holes.

And most of the increase in the budget was for union raises, legal fees for things like being sued by the Mall merchants and utility increases (gas, electric, water, etc).

Already the DPW is down staff and so is the Police Department. Dispatch was moved and the ambulance service eliminated.

Not a lot of room left, so they cut money for equipment which could come back and bite us.

If council put together viable consolidation plans for the various departments and put it on the ballot, this would be a resolved. The people decide without the political suicide.

Dave O, I grew up in North Buffalo in the Hertel/Parkside area. In the 70’s, 1 or 2 times a year, I would see Greg and/or Cher at the drug store at the corner of Hertel & Parkside. I’m pretty sure they didn't own, but stayed with friends. The place they stayed was at the end of Parkside Ave., sandwiched between Medaille College, Forest Lawn Cemetery and the Scajaquada Expressway.

Phil,
At 8:31 AM, today, you said you ran on that issue, and you lost. That tells me there is no public support.

There are a some people who agree with you, but they are a small minority right now.

That does not mean it can not be done, and the public might change its mind in the future. But right now, I don't hear majority support for dropping our Police or Fire Departments.

But, while not scientific, the poll yesterday seems to show majority support for consolidating Youth Services

About a year ago there was a “study” done by the county assessor. The study stated well over a million dollars would be saved by county wide (county, city, villages, towns) consolation of this activity. Now that the County’s, Town and City of Batavia’s assessors have or will be retiring, is this being looked at? I would think the county’s replacement would come from one of the municipal positions around the county. It seems like the perfect time to do it.

John how about making all these tax exempt properties pay for the services they receive..Trash pick up for one,that is a good part of the budget...I don't think the city needs to plow every side walk in Batavia..The homeowner is spose to do it..They don't have the city plow their driveway,so why should they plow their sidewalk..The police and fire are big costs to the city ,how are they trying to control those costs..Maybe we need to have stiffer fines for some of these crimes that need police attention as a way to pay for the police force.We need to have more of a county wide police dept...What happened to all the talk about making the fire dept part volunteer..Like Charlie said alot of grandstanding..But i would say that with out some way to stop the tax increases every year ,the city will never grow its tax base which is the only way to increase revenues with out taking more from all of us..

So what are they going to do next year at budget time..Same thing just raise more taxes...We are over assessed in this city. Just on our street alone John all the properties that sold last year,were all sold for less then they were assessed at..Thats a huge ripoff right there ..Back in 2006 the tax rate was 7.75 today its 10.18 on top of higher assessments.Thats an increase of over 25%in less then 5 years.What wrong with this picture...Like Phil said where is the action.There is none....

People like me have become apathetic to the circus meetings that effect us because why waste time and breath. I remember a meeting that the room was filled to capacity and Mrs. Jamalkowski and Bob Radley and many others spoke in opposition to a tax increase. City council ignored thier pleas and voted to raise them anyway. So,duh!!!!!This is why no one really cares to fight. LOL what a joke! I really want to leave but my family is all I have. I just may have to travel to visit.

Phil,
You were the one who said you ran a election on doing something about the Police and Fire Departments. And you lost (I lost before also).

In my opinion, an election is a referendum, or a "poll". Your idea/platform lost, so it is fair to say there is no public support.

Don't be too defensive. I never said you were wrong about the Police and Fire, just that right now there is no widespread support.

As you pointed out, those two departments are 50% of the city budget. As time goes on and the costs increase more and more, people might come around to your way of thinking. Consider yourself just ahead of your time.

Mark,
I'd do away with the sidewalk plow except for downtown. The Business district pay extra taxes for that kind of service, so that's fair. On top of that, many of the sidewalks on the south side are too narrow for the plow, so they are paying taxes and not getting the service.

I favor a fee system for garbage, so that non profits pay, like you do. But since it is now under property taxes, many get to write it off on their Federal income taxes. And many, like don't want their favorite non profit to have to pay. Again, this has come up before and more people like it the way it is than you and me.

Come on John, people don't vote based on a candidates stand on issues. Batavia is no different than anywhere else in this country. People vote for someone they know, whoever had campaign ads they liked, or they just vote for the party slate. Elections are popularity contests, not referendums.

Can someone please explain what the "Tea Party Movement Groups" are all about. What do they represent and what are they fighting against. Maybe we should start a "Tea Party" of our own, here in our Beautiful City. Imagine That...

Tea parties started around the time Ron Paul started his presidential campaign. This was originally a grass roots movement with no central organizer. These groups were mostly Libertarians that believe in personal property rights,and that government's role should be limited to defending our shores (not empire building around the world)
Since the last election both the term "tea parties" and the term libertarian have been greatly watered down by angry republicans that lost their power. These ousted republicans are now chanting for smaller government which is hypocritical given the record government growth and interference over the course of their stint in power.

I have a question for defenders of our current failing system. With the current tax burden on a household ranging from 50-60% of their income, what do think should happen to someone who doesn't need most of these services and can't afford the increases.

Terry, I dont think they care, if families cant afford it. Thanks for the heads up on the Tea party Business. Someone told me, that the movements are spreading, and the American People are starting to fight back, against corrupt government. I hope so, cause thats what its going to take. Unity

The problem, in my opinion is that organized libertarians aren't really libertarians. I can't pick a political party to join, they all seem to harbor some agenda I can't get behind.

Ron paul is as close as you're going to get. He has a lot of followers proven by his staw poll win at CPAC 2010.

He's great. I like that he doesn't take part in the pension program, and won't vote for anything that isn't specifically addressed in the Constitution. Gettin' a bit long in the tooth though.

That was pointed out to him. He says that if the money is going to be spent, some of it might as well go back to his constituents. I see that as valid. He is just being practical. I remember, Howard, you writing a while back that pork is still pork even if it's our pork. I think as a representative, he can't be idealistic always. This system is a mess.

Don't forget Tim Pawlenty. He is certainly on that evergrowing short list.

Dave said "The problem, in my opinion is that organized libertarians aren't really libertarians. I can't pick a political party to join, they all seem to harbor some agenda I can't get behind."

I encourage you to learn more about the Modern Whig party.
http://www.modernwhig.org/.

Howard wrote, “Ron Paul's dirty little secret, though, is he gets is pork hidden in bills he votes against that he knows are going to pass.”

I used to think Ron Paul was a person of honor. That’s all I need to know about the man. If this is true he is a politician through and through. Dirty to the core.

And it's not a "dirty little secret" either, he's pretty upfront about it. I can't blame him for not advertising it, but when asked, he answers. Straight answers about anything by politicians are rare enough. Although, I think Charlie is being sarcastic.

Phil, you should know me better than that. That is the same thing people used to pick on me for.

Regardless of your feelings toward the wasteful spending, there is no excuse for your community not to get its fair share. The best thing to do is vote no but, make sure if it passes there is an even distribution of the pork.

If you don't like taxes your only choice is to get out of Batavia. Then they will have no one to tax, no stupid government programs to run, and no money to provide services or pay overpaid city union workers.