Advertisement. Advertise with us

COUNTY BUDGET APPROVED

WITH 2 REPS VOTING NAY

County Rep. Jim Powers, R-Butternuts, who chairs the Public Safety & Legal Affairs Committee, asks for data on whether sales-tax revenues will exceed projects. Powers ended up objecting to a proposal by county Rep. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, in the background, to give $10,000 to each fire department to use as they wish, on the assumption most would use it for pagers to connect with a new county emergency communication system. Power said the fire departments' needs have to be better understood before the allocation is made. (Jim Kevlin/allotsego.com)
County Rep. Jim Powers, R-Butternuts, who chairs the Public Safety & Legal Affairs Committee, asks for data on whether sales-tax revenues will exceed projections. Powers ended up objecting to a proposal by county Rep. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, in the background, to give $10,000 to each fire department to use as they wish, on the assumption most would use it for pagers to connect with a new county emergency communication system. Power said the fire departments’ needs have to be better understood before the allocation is made. (Jim Kevlin/allotsego.com)
County Rep. Ed Frazier, R-Unadilla, who chairs the influential Administration Committee, makes a point during today's debate. Listening is on the dias is county board Chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego.
County Rep. Ed Frazier, R-Unadilla, who chairs the influential Administration Committee, makes a point during today’s debate. Listening is on the dias is county board Chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego.
County Rep. Kay Stuligross, D-Oneonta, receives colleagues praise for successfully leading the sale of Otsego Manor.
County Rep. Kay Stuligross, D-Oneonta, receives colleagues’ praise for successfully leading the sale of Otsego Manor.

COOPERSTOWN – The county Board of Representatives adopted its $103 million budget for 2015 this morning, with only county Reps. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, and Betty Anne Schwerd, R-Edmeston, voting no.

Among the last-minute issues, Lindberg tried to include a $10,000 contribution to each of the county’s 30 fire departments, to help them buy pagers needed to connect with the county’s new $8 million emergency communication system due to go online by the end of next year.

County Rep. Ed Lentz, D-New Lisbon, suggested several ways to split the $1.4 million in annual bed-tax revenues to help the major engines of tourism – the town and city of Oneonta, the Town of Hartwick and the Village of Cooperstown. But none of the motions passed.

Because the sale of Otsego Manor results in a $5 million savings, the document should result in a tax decrease, but when split among all taxpayers it should amount to no more than a few dollars each. Much of the $5 million was eaten up on such projects as a new roof on the Meadows Office Building and other maintenance delayed because of Manor costs.

Two controversial proposals that came out of the committee chaired by Lindberg – closing the Cooperstown DMV and merging Oneonta’s senior hospitality site into Nader Towers – had previously been removed from the proposed document.

Posted

Tags

Related Articles

Benton Is Planning Primary Challenge To Veteran Marietta

Benton Is Planning Primary Challenge To Veteran Marietta 2021 County Board Dispute Shaping Up By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Democrat MacGuire Benton confirmed a few minutes ago he plans to challenge the dean of the county board Democrats, Andrew Marietta, for the Cooperstown/Town of Otsego seat in next June’s primary. “Primaries are the sign of a healthy democracy,” he said, adding he’s looking forward to “an exchange of ideas.”  He added, “It’s early, and I look forward to sharing my platform with District 8” when it is fully developed. For his part, Marietta, who has been…

‘Mac’ Benton Steps Back From Challenging Marietta

‘Mac’ Benton Steps Back From Challenging Marietta In Exchange, Incumbent Will Support Trustee As His County Board Successor By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Village Trustee MacGuire Benton has decided not to challenge fellow Democrat Andy Marietta for the county board’s Cooperstown/Town of Otsego seat. An email the two men sent today to members of the county Democratic Committee says “we have come to the conclusion that there is much more that we agree on than  which divides us.…

County Board Moves Toward Lifting Tax Cap

County Board Moves Toward Lifting Tax Cap Action Possible At Sept. 2 Meeting By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Facing a fiscal crunch, the county Board of Representatives today took the first step toward freeing itself from the state’s 2 percent property-tax cap in preparing its 2021 budget. At its August meeting, county board Chairman David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield, “put the law on the table,” and freshman representative Clark Oliver, D-Oneonta, seconded it. As County Attorney Ellen Coccoma explained it, a public hearing must now be set before the county board’s next meeting, on Sept. 2,…