No Increase

In Taxes

To the Editor:

I attended the public budget meeting last week and it proved to be very interesting. First of all, I would like to thank and commend the Trustees for their tireless effort and the time they put in to try and put this budget together. It is not an easy task.

At the same time I can't emphasize how important it is that there be NO increase in Village taxes this year. With the economy in a shambles and no help in sight for the near future it is incumbent upon the department heads in the Village to figure out how to pare their budgets.

I don't want to see anyone lose their job and I know none of the Trustees want that so then we have to do it another way and we have to figure it out. I was impressed with the presentation by Jack Pascal who is in charge of the budget for the Library. I think I have this right in that the Library has had mandated increases in staff salaries over the past 4 years of 14% and their budget has only increased 4% during that period. If they can do it others can too. If it can't be done any other way then we have to do the unthinkable. There was one company I read about where the employees took a 7% pay cut to prevent any layoffs. Interesting.

The Mayor in his column last week said "It is worth remembering, however, that employee salaries are our single biggest expense, and that state law prohibits us from unilaterally reducing the salaries of our employees with union contracts. While it is true that we are free to save money by reducing the number of employees by attrition, or even layoffs if necessary, it is a challenge to specifically identify which positions should be cut. Police? Fire? Sanitation? Road crews? Water Department? Any reduction in our work force carries the risk of consequences to the level of service provided to the public, and the public's needs for public services are often greatest in times of fiscal distress" I don't know what services the above departments provide that would be in greater need during this fiscal crises.

I was surprised to find out that there is a Lieutenant on the Police department that made $238,000 last year in total payments not including his retirement. That there are times that the Fire department has a Captain and 2 Lieutenants on duty supervising 7 firemen. This is the time where a TOTAL review of each department has to be done.

I read 2 weeks ago that the submitted budget indicated an increase of 19.6% in village taxes but at the meeting on Thursday the revised budget had it down to 10-11%. That is still unacceptable. People in the village have lost their jobs, companies have lost clients, employees have had their pay cut and retirement accounts have been reduced in some cases over 50%. As I sit here the Dow is down over another 200 points. I have a client who laid off 800 people, another one 500 people and another 150.

There has to be a 0% increase in Village taxes this year and the Trustees have to figure out how to do it. The reality of it all is that this will probably carry over into next year and be worse so we can start planning on another Zero based budget and keep this in mind when they go to the negotiating table with the unions.

I would also like to thank and commend the Citizens Budget Committee for their vigilance and work. They have reviewed all the numbers and have asked very precise questions concerning the proposed increases. It is my understanding that on Saturday they spent 2 hours looking at the sites for capital improvements and another 3 hours in meetings about them.

Raymond Carew

Lucky To

Have GCPD

To the Editor:

I want to thank the Garden City Police for their professional and courteous response to a call from my neighbor for medical assistance.

We are so lucky to have our Village Police who respond within minutes and are so able. Also to the Nassau Paramedics.

The Police have made us all feel safe with their presence while reported attempted break ins have happened. It is reassuring to know that we can have a rapid response when a need arrives. Thank you to you all.

Gerri Moratti

Donovan

For Mayor?

To the Editor:

Is it too late to nominate John Donovan for Mayor? His "What Were They Thinking" letter was one of the best 'letters to the editor' I have read in the 35 plus years I have been in town. We need a new Mayor, why not someone who understands the reality of the economic debacle we are all facing. Certainly the Village managers don't get it by even thinking about requests for new vehicles and vans, synthetic turf, studies, recreation building expansions, etc., etc.

Why isn't the Village thinking about reducing expenditures like we all have had to do? Why can't we think about a budget that will reduce our taxes! That's what I'm thinking, how about you!

Martin Dehler

Quality Of

Life Issues

To the Editor:

On February 17th the Board of Trustees were asked to consider the application by a not for profit organization (New York Youth Club) to permit door to door solicitations in the Village. It may be helpful to the trustees to seek independent assessments of such organizations. As residents of Garden City may recall, for many years the Garden City Community Fund was a volunteer organization that routinely assessed not for profit institutions that sought contributions from village residents. The methodology used by the Fund may help those seeking to evaluate such charitable organizations. Our first question was: what is the mission of your organization? Second, we asked for audited financial statements and IRS Form 990 for the latest available year end. Concerns raised by the Quota and Admissions Committee of the Garden City Community Fund which provided written reports on all organizations that approached it for donations always involved a simple question: Is the charity achieving its' stated goal of providing services in a cost effective manner.

The very first way to quickly review a not for profit organization is to look at their individual tax return, called IRS form 990 which is easily available on the Internet at two sites: www.guidestar.org, or www.foundationcenter.org. The forms outline how much money a registered not for profit, formally called a 501c(3) organization, raises and spends in an individual year. The form asks how much money is spent on programs provided to their constituents. Clearly an efficient organization minimizes costs while maximizing revenues to assist those it provides help. A careful review of expenses is important in considering the quality of any charitable organization. Especially important is the issue of compensation paid to employees.

In addition to the availability of IRS form 990, there are independent reports about these organizations at Guidestar.org.

Matthew R. Cody

Past President

Garden City

Community Fund

A Con Job?

To The Editor:

A "CON JOB" on our senior citizens seems possible. On March 11, at the Senior High School, the Garden City Teachers Association will provide to all seniors free refreshments and free tickets to a high school Masquers production of "Guys and Dolls." Is it just a coincidence that a vote on the school budget will follow shortly thereafter? The currently proposed school budget provides "Only" a .088% increase over the last one, completely ignoring the current recession where many seniors (and other residents) have seen 40 to 50 percent reductions in their incomes. I suggest we seniors accept the Teachers Associations' generous offer at face value but that we still vote against the school budget until it is reduced just as our incomes have been reduced.

Al Urban

If You Can't Convince Them

To the Editor:

President Harry S. Truman once said, "If you can't convince them, confuse them."

It sounds like the mantra adopted by some of our state legislators who quickly jumped on the consolidation bandwagon by introducing insignificant legislation merely to placate special interest groups and garner media attention. Unfortunately, instead of justifying their intentions with facts, they relied on baseless assumptions that are false and misleading.

The premise for their legislative actions is the report released last spring by the Commission of Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, a committee appointed by former governor Eliot Spitzer to examine what he believed was the plethora of taxing districts in New York State. Following release of the committee's report a few state legislators displayed typical knee-jerk reactions by immediately introducing legislation calling for the downsizing of government and the elimination or consolidation of villages - the state's most effective and efficient form of local government.

You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to know that New York State has too many levels of government. But the proliferation of the thousands of special taxing districts is the creation of the towns and cities and has nothing to do with villages. If these state legislators they had done their homework, they would have learned that many experts dispute the notion that eliminating or consolidating villages would produce substantial cost savings.

What the Experts Say about Villages

Donald Boyd, a senior fellow at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, prepared a report at the request of the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness. Unfortunately the commission, for reasons unknown, chose to ignore some of Mr. Boyd's findings when it published its recommendations.

In referring to village dissolutions, Mr. Boyd states in his report, "Tax increases in the town-outside-village area have been the norm in past village dissolutions" and that a village dissolution where urbanized village services have been provided "may result in the creation of multiple special assessment districts." In other words, eliminating a single village opens the door for creating multiple new special taxing districts.

Mr. Boyd continued his opinion of village dissolution by quoting a researcher (Jered Carr 2004) and writing, "Simply put, the ability of consolidated government to produce benefits promised by its proponents has not been established." He also writes, "Literature reviews have suggested that costs of merged governments are not necessarily lower than the costs of individual governments and can be higher" and "Many studies found higher costs after consolidation due to "leveling up" of salaries (i.e. paying all workers at the highest pay scale of the governments involved in a consolidation)."

Lee Koppelman, for more than three decades a bi-county planner and most recently a professor of planning at Stony Brook University, is one of Long Island's most respected planning experts. When asked about the multi-levels of government on Long Island, he said, "If a village government is operated efficiently, there is no form of government closer to the people. No municipal form of government is more efficient when operated well."

So if the experts all agree that villages are the most efficient form of local government, what is the rationale for introducing legislation to consolidate or eliminate village government? Is it to create a process for dissolving villages? That already exists. Is it to save money by consolidating services? That, too, already exists. Villages already maximize efficiencies by sharing equipment, engaging in consortium bidding for products and services, providing intermunicipal assistance. In fact, former Lt. Governor Stan Lundine, the commission's chairman, was quick to diffuse the impression that the commission was recommending the consolidation or elimination of villages. In a recent interview with Newsday reporter Elizabeth Moore he stated, "Our report actually does not advocate mandatory consolidation of any cities, towns, villages or fire districts."

Let's be honest. There is no valid reason. With so many difficult challenges facing our state elected officials, it makes you wonder who would waste time with an issue that has been examined ad nauseam. People move to incorporated villages because they desire a particular lifestyle. They want a government that is responsive and accountable. When it comes to delivering services to residents in a manner that is efficient and cost-effective, no level of government can match a village.

With all that is happening in our communities - loss of jobs and homes, and taxes going through the roof - it is time to send a strong message to our state legislators. Stop wasting time and taxpayer monies drafting worthless legislation and start concentrating on the real issues - like keeping our state viable.

Nancy Zolezzi, President

Nassau County Village

Officials Association

Mayor, Village of

East Williston

Give President

A Chance

To The Editor:

I am writing in response to Mr. Edward J. Heaney's letter in last week's edition. Over the years I have been amused by some of his long proses but felt compelled to respond to his latest essay. Though I have never met him, he sounds like one of those people who wouldn't vote for God if He was running as a Democrat.

Though the new President has been in office a little more than a month, Mr. Heaney does not want to afford him any grace period because things are so bad and the solutions being proposed are too radical. In his view, the current crisis cannot in any way be attributed to the party that was in power the past 8 years. The irony and reality is that most of the current mess occurred on their watch. Perhaps if the last guy had exhibited more leadership and oversight, the new guy wouldn't be going on TV every week proposing such radical solutions.

If the country is sinking as Mr. Heaney contends, it's because last guy torpedoed it. He took us to war under false pretenses, a war that has killed more than 4200 service people, including 2 from my former Reserve unit. It will surely go down as one of the greatest follies in American history. The debt from that mismanaged fiasco is a major contributing factor to the current economic situation. (Did someone say Mission Accomplished? Has anyone seen those WMD's?)

Instead, the war we should have waged with all of our resources was treated as an afterthought that has allowed the real enemy to regroup and get stronger. In the end, that mismanagement will most assuredly cost us more in both casualties and dollars. (Has anyone seen Osama? Dead or alive?)

I too hope that the current Congress will exhibit some leadership and indict the neo-cons that led us into the Iraq debacle. War crimes and treason should be the initial statement of charges.

Someday, New Orleans may actually recover from the inaction and ineptitude by the last guy and his bunch after Hurricane Katrina. ("You're doing a heck of a job Brownie").

Mr. Heaney needs to get over the Clinton era; like World War II, its history. He also need not be concerned about Hillary in 2012; the current guy is going to be there for 8 years. While "Billy Boy" may have been morally deficient, he left office with a surplus that the last guy squandered in record time into the largest deficit ever.

Though I am not in favor of bailing out the banks and car companies or homeowners who were fiscally irresponsible, I applaud the new President for his vision, efforts and attempts to rectify the catastrophes he inherited. I have no problem with the richest Americans paying more of their fair share. If that's wealth redistribution, so be it.

The fact that the current minority party is rejecting every new proposal is almost comical. That some of their governors from the poorest states have vowed to reject any of the bailout monies shows how out of touch and in denial they really are.

It's probably wishful thinking to hope that people like Mr. Heaney will give the new President a chance. They are too busy blaming the Clintons for everything but the Lindbergh kidnapping, ignoring reality and trying to rewrite history.

Frank X. Ruggiero