http://votesmart.org/

If you have a moment, check out this website.  All you need to do is type in your zip code and you can see exactly how your elected representatives on the State and Federal levels voted on issues.  You can also read exactly what the issue entailed.  This is an extremely valuable resource and makes it really easy to know what your representatives are really doing. 

For example, Assemblyman Greg Ball and Assemblywoman Sandy Galef both recently voted Yes for Government Consolidation Bill A 8501.  State Senator Vincent Leibell voted against it. If you follow the links you can read more about it. 

Add it to your web browser's favorites right now!

N.Y. Senate Goes Republican, Aided by Two Democrats http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aiq_YGCzi630

By Henry Goldman and Michael Quint

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republicans reclaimed control of the New York state Senate with help from two Democrats, who rebelled against a $131.8 billion budget they said was negotiated in secret.

Pedro Espada from the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate from Queens sided with 30 Republicans on key votes to change the Senate’s leadership. Democrats immediately challenged the claim and described the action as illegal. Governor David Paterson called it “despicable.”

The maneuver, just two weeks before the Legislature’s scheduled June 22 adjournment, leaves in doubt the outcome of bills to allow gay marriage, create a new money-saving pension category for future state and city workers and approve taxes to balance New York City’s budget.

“We would be in uncharted waters,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an impromptu news conference in Manhattan. “I expect to have an on-time budget, but we have to have reasonable assurances that revenue will be there. And if this were to get held up -- and I don’t know if that’s the case, this is hypothetical -- we would not be facing anything that we’ve seen before.”

Democrats say they will go to court arguing that they adjourned the Senate session before the Republicans named Dean Skelos as the new majority leader, ousting Malcolm Smith.

Democrats in November took the lead in the Senate for the first time in 43 years, with a 32-30 majority. They have controlled the Assembly and the offices of governor, attorney general and comptroller since 2006.

City’s Stakes

The transfer of power could affect Bloomberg’s effort to persuade the state Legislature to extend the law giving him control over city schools, said Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College in Manhattan. The law, enacted in 2002, is set to expire June 30.

The Senate switch “gives the mayor a lot of leverage because he’s been a very major campaign contributor to the Republican Party Senate campaign, and Republicans supported mayoral control” of the schools, Sherrill said in an interview. “On taxes, I’m not so sure, because the Republicans may want to use the tax issue against the Democrats in 2010.” Bloomberg has given New York State Republican Senate campaign committees more than $1.3 million since 2003, according to New York State Board of Election records. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Bloomberg also wants the Legislature to approve a 0.5 percentage point increase in the sales tax to balance the budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Pension Issue

The new pension category, which the state’s two largest public employee unions accepted June 5, would save state taxpayers more than $30 billion over 30 years, and has become a priority for the governor. A delay or a dysfunctional Legislature could derail it.

The pension bill is also crucial to Bloomberg’s agenda, should city unions agree to its less generous provisions, because the city would save $200 million next year and $7 billion over 20 years, Bloomberg has said.

“Given that the state will continue to face budgetary shortfalls, this will likely add to the paralysis in Albany,” Sherrill said in a written statement. “Negotiating with a divided Legislature over budget cuts and/or tax increases will be sheer hell for Governor Paterson, and for everyone else.”

Espada said he was moved to launch the revolt by the secrecy of the budget process, when the state closed a record $17.7 billion deficit with help from a rise in income tax rates for individuals earning more than $200,000 a year. Votes for that package were coerced, he said, by threats to deprive lawmakers of the funds known as “member items,” which they provide directly to groups in their districts.

Still Democrats

Monserrate still considers himself a Democrat and expects that in the new “bi-partisan coalition” he will continue to meet in conferences with others of his party. Espada said the same.

Espada said at least four or five other Democrats told him they will join him and Monserrate in a new Senate coalition.

Both senators have legal issues that could complicate their political futures. A New York grand jury indicted Monserrate in March on felony assault charges stemming from a Dec. 19, 2008, incident, when he was a city councilman, in which he allegedly slashed his girlfriend with a drinking glass.

Last month Smith scolded Espada for failing to file disclosure reports with the state Board of Elections, for which Espada was fined more than $13,000. The city Campaign Finance Board also fined him $61,750 for violations stemming from an unsuccessful 2001 campaign for Bronx Borough president.

Espada Catchup Plan

Espada said he will complete his overdue campaign finance filings by Friday, and pay his outstanding $60,000 debt to New York City’s campaign finance board by August.

Skelos said in a statement that Smith and the Democrats “broke their promises” to reform the chamber, resulting in “the most secretive and dysfunctional session in recent history and a complete and total failure to govern.” He promised “more accountability, transparency, efficiencies, balance and fairness” under his leadership.

The tactics for reversing Senate control “crystallized” at meetings over the weekend, said Senator George Winner, a Republican from Elmira. “I don’t know how long there have been talks with Espada and Monserrate,” he said.

Senator Betty Little, a Republican from Glens Falls, said, “The biggest surprise is that the plan wasn’t leaked ahead of time.”

Lawmakers may have to remain in Albany beyond the scheduled end of the session, Paterson said. “I don’t really know what the outcome will be” when the dispute goes to court, Paterson said.

Instead of arguing about leadership positions, Paterson said, lawmakers should be working on pending legislation such as a cap on state spending and curbing increases in property taxes or fixing an emerging budget deficit.

To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Goldman in New York City Hall at hgoldman@bloomberg.net; Michael Quint in Albany, New York, at mquint@bloomberg.net

As many of you may know consolidation of school districts has been discussed as a means to reduce expenses. However prior to consolidating school districts there must be a comprehensive proposal designed to demonstrate how the proposed consolidation would benefit both the communities involved and better serve the educational interests of the student population. 

• Items beginning with the number one are for General Support;

• Items beginning with the number two are considered Instructional;

• Items beginning with the number five are for Transportation costs;

• Items beginning with the number nine are for all other costs including long term debt and employee benefits. The Arlington Budget Website provides a detailed explanation for the individual account codes. 

BY JAMES T. MADORE | james.madore@newsday.com

9:33 PM EDT, June 1, 2009

ALBANY - The Assembly Monday overwhelming approved a bill from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to streamline the process of consolidating local governments.

The bill passed 117 to 26, with Long Island's 21-member delegation nearly evenly split.

Supporters of the bill said abolishing some of New York's 10,521 governments would reduce property taxes. But critics expressed concern that fewer towns, villages, fire districts and other special districts would lead to diminished services.

Several lawmakers said they planned to introduce legislation to exempt fire districts, if Cuomo's bill is signed into law.

The government consolidation measure, which was inspired by Newsday stories, had been expected to pass the Assembly despite last-minute lobbying by volunteer firefighters and mayors who oppose it. They now are pinning their hopes on the State Senate, which is expected to take up the bill tomorrow.

"We need relief . . . our constituents are drowning in property taxes," said Assemb. Patricia Eddington (D-Medford). "This bill could be a remedy, though practically no school districts have consolidated and we already have a mechanism in place for that."

Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James), noting that Long Island is home to more than 900 local governments, praised Cuomo's effort to ease the process for collecting petition signatures for referendums on consolidation. Some governments "no longer serve the people" but exist to "support" their employees, Fitzpatrick said.

Still, several Nassau lawmakers criticized the bill, saying it permits counties to run roughshod over small villages and special districts. The lawmakers also called for a higher threshold of petition signatures to avoid a disgruntled minority from pushing through a merger plan.

Assemb. Robert Barra (R-Lynbrook) agreed, saying the legislation has caused alarm among Nassau's villages and special districts. "This bill is a complete sham. It will not save taxpayers any money," he said.

The vote was expected to be closer in the Senate. Last night, the Republican minority met privately to discuss the bill.

Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R- Rockville Centre), said, "We have a number of concerns about this bill, including the amount of savings that can actually be achieved."

First off we would like to give a big thank you to Sandy Galef for being our guest at the first Kent Fiscal Watch open forum.  For two hours Sandy took our questions and provided thoughtful answers on topics such as citizen activism, open government, tax reform, and consolidation of services.  It is certainly refreshing how accessible to the people Sandy is; it is something we surely appreciate.  Rather than write up a summary here, in the coming week we will be posting video highlights for you to watch.

I would also like to thank Paul Spiegel for advertising and moderating the event, as well as all the KFW members who pitched in to help with refreshments, advertising, set up, etc.  Especially I would like to thank Joyce for organizing everything.  Also I would like to thank all who attended for their participation.

Please check back later in the week to see the video highlights of the event.  If you like what you see, please join our newsletter list on the upper right to be informed of our next event. 

The only way to make a change is to get involved!  We hope you will join us!

The Town has now posted on its website its Annual Report to the NY State Comptroller for 2008 (see http://www.townofkentny.gov/PDF/Finance/annualfinancialreport2008.pdf).

An overall surplus of $647,054 (more revenue than expenditure) was achieved.

This adds to the Town's financial reserves, on top of a surplus of $1,201,464 in 2007.  As reported earlier, the brief financial summary of the First Quarter of 2009 showed an estimated (by me) surplus of $344,000.

The Town had $5,216,007 in cash and bank deposits at the end of 2008.

Taxpayers should be interested in why the Town is building up these surpluses, as the majority of its revenue comes from property taxes. 

In the details of the overall surplus for 2008, the General Fund (pays for everything except Highway Dept. and Capital Assets) had a surplus in 2008 of $1,269,662, compared to a 2007 surplus of $1,176,470 (in 2 years, that's $2.3 million of your taxes that were collected but not spent).  Offsetting this, the Highway Dept. had a deficit in 2008 of $315,451, compared to a deficit in 2007 of $148,005 (that's $463,000 more expenditures than was collected from your property taxes over 2 years).

These financial results certainly mean that the Town's finances are in very good shape.  The hang-over from the excessive cost overruns to build the Town Center has largely been cured.

So, why is the Town government piling up cash?  My personal opinion (you don't have to accept this) is that the Town is preparing to pay damages in the Kent Manor lawsuit, should the justice system ever award damages to the developer/plaintiff (there is no certainty of that).  Whatever the reason, it's taxpayers' money and I believe that they should be given an explanation. 

This message is from Victor Tiship.

Please make your voices heard on vital property tax REFORM, not relief, in New York! The State Legislature is gauging public support for a number of proposals on this issue at this site:  Please forward to your NY networks.