26 Jobs, Services On County Chopping Block By DON MATHISEN • for AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – The county Board of Representatives is on track to cut 19 full-time and 7 part-time employees, slash some services and raise property taxes by about $100,000. That’s according to county Treasurer Dan Crowell and county Rep. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, who chairs the Budget Review Committee. “The committee has identified departments, dollar amounts and in some cases the number of positions to be cut,” said Crowell. “The…
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THE COUNTY BEAT How Did $5 Million Boon Become $9 Million Gap? Treasurer Explains County’s Changing Fortunes By DON MATHISEN • for AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – How did Otsego County go from a prospective $5 million surplus with last year’s sale of Otsego Manor to a $9 million budget gap? The question is being raised as county representatives prepare the 2016 budget. According to County Treasurer Dan Crowell, the surplus never materialized. It evaporated when Otsego Manor legacy costs proved to…
Closing $9.2 Million Gap ‘Daunting, Do-able,’ County Treasurer Declares COOPERSTOWN – Closing the $9.2 million gap in Otsego County’s prospective 2016 budget is both “daunting and do-able,” county Treasurer Dan Crowell said today of what will be his seventh budget. He added, “I haven’t been through a budget year that’s been easy.” He was commenting after county Rep. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, Budget Review Committee chair, sent out a notice that preliminary budget meetings will be at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, Sept.…
This Christmas, Shop Local – For The Fun Of It! Editorial in the Edition of Thursday-Friday, Nov. 27-28 Shopping local isn’t simply a feel-good decision. It’s essential to the economic well-being of our Otsego County neighbors and ourselves. In recent days, that’s been dramatized by the debate over whether the county should close the Department of Motor Vehicles Office in Cooperstown. The office was under threat because local drivers have opted to renew their licenses in Albany via the Internet.…
Public Hearing On County Budget Planned Monday In Cooperstown COOPERSTOWN – The Otsego County Board of Representatives have scheduled a public hearing for 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in the County Office Building to hear comment on the proposed 2015 budget. The $103 million document includes a local tax levy slightly over $11 million. That reflected a property tax decrease of 2.4 percent. But given the decision to keep the Cooperstown DMV office and the “Gathering Place” senior site in…
DMV, Elm Park Saved During County Budget Workshop COOPERSTOWN – After two weeks of worry about the possible closing of the Cooperstown DMV office and the relocation of the Elm Park senior meal center, a sigh of relief came when both items were once again placed on the 2015 budget proposal by an overwhelming majority. During a three-hour workshop, the members of the Otsego County board debated, argued and added items to the County Treasurer Dan Crowell’s proposed budget. In…
Fingers Crossed. Forums May Achieve ‘Single Point Of Contact’ Editorial for the edition of Thursday-Friday Oct. 16-17, 2014 Otsego County has never done economic development – and never will, county Treasurer Dan Crowell told the 2014 Otsego Leadership class when it convened last April at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Economic development requires risk-taking, Crowell said, and the county Board of Representatives simply has been unwilling to risk taxpayer money. He couldn’t imagine the reps ever will. That’s prudent; they shouldn’t.…