Dear Editor,
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday night, March 8, the Taxpayers First Party held a Town Hall meeting with Village residents in the Fellowship Hall of the Owego United Methodist Church. The site was specifically chosen as we wanted to have a serious meeting with the residents to listen to their voices and discuss our goals of working with the residents and taxpayers towards sustainable solutions for the Village’s long term survival under the pressures of an anemic economy, shrinking tax base and ever growing State mandates.
The meeting was very well attended by a broad cross-section of residents and business owners, who also pay Village taxes. The questions asked were very astute and focused, and were answered with honesty and frankness. Although scheduled for a 7 to 9 p.m. timeframe, the people and Candidates were so focused on their discussions it neared 10 p.m. when the meeting adjourned.
I was very pleased when several said it will be good to have people on the Village Board that will actually listen to their voices and hear what is being said and not choose what they want to hear or just ignore the taxpayers and do as they want.
Actively listening and hearing what others are saying is vital in any relationship but is crucial in a public servant. If we close our ears and minds, the moment we “think” we hear something that is not what we want to hear not only hampers you but does the other(s) a great injustice, especially on a municipal Board where the majority of the voters put you in office – to hear and weigh all voices and not just your favorite ones. On March 8 the Taxpayers First Party “again” listened and heard all of your voices, and they are great voices that are deeply appreciated.
Questions asked ranged from pursuing flood control measures, the devastating flood insurance costs, employee salaries and benefits, policing of the Village, Fire and EMS services, DPW, and the sewer billing (E.D.U.) system.
But the dominate theme of the evening for the public was the Village’s financial condition and how will the Village adjust for the shrinking tax base without violating the NYS Cap which is targeted at 0.12% this coming fiscal year? A very astute and concerned public was in attendance and not just there for a social club hour.
On flood control – We discussed the potentials for mitigations at streams and interior diversion system.
The fact is that that we can no longer “just go in” and clean the streams and river as there are many layers of State, Federal and Commissions that have to be maneuvered through, but it can be done.
Flood insurance costs – This is a Federal/FEMA driven program that is oriented in recovering of funds expended for flood buyouts, teardowns and repairs. Every dollar doled out is somebody’s tax dollar and must be recovered to rebuild the funds for the next event or disaster that will call for FEMA/Federal aid programs. There is no ‘Free Lunch’, so someone has to repay the monies and it appears the Federal Flood Insurance program is one of the vehicles to do so.
Employee’s salaries and benefits – Unfortunately there is little that administration can do on these issues as many are driven by Federal and State mandates or are part of a bargaining agreement escalation. The only options any administration has with employee salaries and benefits is to be diligent in negotiations on bargaining contracts and shop for the best health care and retirement programs that does not harm the employee while getting the best value for the taxpayer’s dollars. Employee salaries and benefits are the largest part of the Village budget and depending on the department can be the major portion of their budget.
The question was asked if we would explore areas where the Village could merge department functions and personnel internally or with other municipalities of like service. The short answer is yes and we are currently trying to do that very thing but have had continuous opposition by the Rebuild Owego Party. But yes we will explore all options to ensure the Village is on a sustainable path.
Policing of the Village – Regardless of what the Rebuild Party is spewing the Taxpayer’s First Party has never said they want to abolish the Owego Police. Think about it, since we have the control vote numbers, if we wanted to abolish the Owego Police we could have set it in motion any time by simply voting for it to happen and then it would automatically have been pushed out to you the public as a referendum to decide whether to abolish it or not.
As noted earlier we always listen and hear all voices when they come to us and try to find common ground for a resolution. Sometimes it is easy to find that common ground and life is sweet. But sometimes common ground is not easy to find and the issue is weighty enough that it has to come before you, the taxpayers, for full input. Such it is with the opposing voices on the Owego Police issue. The Taxpayers First Party is trying to stay neutral, as, I believe all Board members should on such issues, and let the voters decide.
There are approximately 2,000 registered voters in the Village, so when you hear relatively small group, but about equal in size and strident voices, demanding that it be their way the logical and responsible action for the Board should be to say, “Wait a minute. Let’s collect the options data requested and then let the Village voters list and tell us their desire. Then we know where to focus the efforts for final resolution of the issue.
That effort was being made but unfortunately the Rebuild Party along with the PBA, your Village Officers, determined that you the taxpayers do not deserve a voice in the issue. But that does not surprise me when the PBA attorney that is processing a lawsuit against the Village is the same PBA attorney that sat in a Village Board meeting and stated the she did not understand the Board’s resistance on PBA demands as it would only cost each household in the Village an additional $350 to $400 per year. Easy enough for her as she pays no taxes here, and with the exception of one officer, none of the OPD officers do. But be that as it may, the PBA and Rebuild Party are adamant that you, the taxpayer, do not have a voice in the issue.
Fire and EMS – The question was why wasn’t the Fire Department’s request to allow the proposed Fire District to come before the people? Good question considering that after three meetings with the Mayor on how to provide sustainable Fire and EMS service to the Village was met with Mayor’s ending statement each time, “It is not his or the Village’s issue so Fire Department solve it.”
Astounding to me as I always understood that by NYS Charter and Village Charter that the Fire Department was the Village’s responsibility! But each time the Mayor’s answer was the same.
At nearly every meeting as Trustee and Fire Commissioner I file a Trustee written report into the records and nearly every time a list of ongoing and neglected repairs at Central Fire Station is filed or brought up at the meeting to remind the Mayor and Board that the repairs are not being made. At one Board meeting the DPW Superintendent stated he was sick and tired of hearing about the damn fire station and the Rebuild Party’s DPW Commissioner and Trustee then said she was to and she did not care if the roof fell in, she wasn’t putting any taxpayer dollars in the station. A similar statement was made again at a later Board meeting.
Based on the Mayor’s, DPW Superintendent’s and Rebuild Trustees statements, the Fire Department sought ways to protect itself and ensure continued service to the Village taxpayers. But the Rebuild Party blocked it ever getting to you the taxpayers and now that it is election time they are all about the Fire Department.
E.D.U. – This form of billing is a method that has been successfully used in other municipalities and was recommended by the A&E firm hired to do the sewer plant upgrades. The Village then commissioned an A&E firm to review the Village system and structure an E.D.U. unit and categories for the Village to set the bill rate for each category and E.D.U. unit.
This sat in the Mayor’s office until the Board was advised that it was a legal issue to get the E.D.U. system into the law if it was to be the billing system. The Mayor then dropped it on the Sewer Department Superintendent’s desk with a short lead-time and told him to assign values to the units and it was rushed through the Board that it would be fair and equitable. The E.D.U. system has been protested from it inception and finding workable solution for remedying it has been difficult as the Mayor and Rebuild Party have been less than cooperative on it. Fortunately, the Taxpayers First Party has a good engineering mind for taking the lead on it and is in pursuit of some potential corrections to the E.D.U. system.
DPW – Discussion centered on merging them 100 percent with the Town since we are physically placing them on the same campus and in same building, otherwise make them do their jobs.
There are financial concerns of how to maintain the Village services without adding more Village personnel and resulting salaries and benefits commitments. The general attitude is that just as any other business or household, the Village needs to learn to optimize their services with staff they have. The discussion went into that the options are: Hold taxes down as much as possible by freezing departments staffing where they are and strive for maximum efficiency or grow the departments to their optimal size and budgets; or cut some services was stated by many. The Taxpayers First Party response was, “Let us get in office first and then get the delinquent audits done so we truly know where the Villages finances are and then we can tell what the Village can afford or not afford.” That position was well received.
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the people, hearing their concerns and I look forward to working on their behalf to relieve their concerns for the Village’s future.
Sincerely,
Earl Hartman
Village of Owego Trustee, Ward 2
