Yes, I could have written that sentence so many times in the 20-plus years I have been a resident of the city. But today, it's for a brand new reason.
Despite patting itself on its collective back for passing a balanced 2015 budget after one of the clumsiest processes on record, the nine-member City Council on Thursday, in its final Financial Committee session of 2014, voted to increase the amount of money the City pays Rensselaer County for emergency dispatching services.
By how much, you ask? By more than 75%, after considering just a single non-competitive bid endorsed by Mayor Lou Rosamilia after he did a bit of flirting with Albany County's dispatch people. (By the way, despite calls to do so, neither he nor anyone in his administration has publicly explained why that exploration stopped, and how he arrived at the abominable figure he chose to endorse.)
As a result, a half-million of your tax dollars will go to the County, rather than the current $285,000. And, that number is projected to more than double in the next decade under an agreement Rosamilia and County Executive Cathy Jimino agreed to before putting it up for a vote. Thus, taxpayers will have to go from paying $285,000 a year to $1,200,000 in a 10-year period.
Nice negotiating, Mr. Mayor.
But, that is not the only bit of financial bad news for Troy residents and businesses. The Council also voted to increase the amount charged for sewer bills by 20%. Your current sewer bill is 65% of what your water bill is. For 2015, it will be 85%. (Council Member Lynn Kopka even floated the possibility of a 100% increase.) Feel that extra pinch in your pocketbook?
The logic in that rate hike is to drum up an extra $856,000 a year to be applied to paying down a $3,537,411 million bond issue that was floated to finance a capital project for the regional combined sewer overflow control plan.
The problem with increases of the sort I'm pointing out is not that that they are inherently bad. What they are is a case of too much, too soon.
Yes, the City has paid the same $285,000 a year to the County for emergency dispatch services for nearly 20 years, so some increase is not out of line. But the approved amount is, tremendously so.
A more gradual schedule of increases would have been palatable. Instead, Rosamilia and the Council have leapfrogged to a mind-boggling level that will only continue to increase each year unless the City opts out of the contract, which seems unlikely given the current mindset.
And, there is no doubt the sewer overflow capital project is needed. But, once again, it is a huge hike to absorb all at once, especially for residents of a city with an average adjusted gross income of $39,000.
Given all the good things happening in the City -- often despite rather than aided by the government -- we are in dire need of people with energy, perspective, business experience and critical thinking skills to consider making a run at City Hall and on City Council next time those seats come before the voters.
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