The picture above is what the loading dock of the former Latina's Grocery Store was taken Monday. Below is a picture taken this afternoon.
As you can see, there's still some work to be done (weeds growing from the roof, graffiti clean up), but it's a big improvement.
Work crews at the direction of the city clean up the Latina's lot (which had weeds encircling the building) on Wednesday. City officials told WBTA that the property owner was fined $250 under the new weed abatement ordinance, plus the cost of clean up. Also cited and cleaned up was Della Penna Paving (picture from Monday below).
No word on how much the property owners will be billed for the clean up work.
Mr Gautieri has had a number
Mr Gautieri has had a number of articles in the paper about how he was denied the right to bid on County projects, but lets his property become an eyesore.
What gives?
It is VERY HARD to do
It is VERY HARD to do business in Batavia. We have all been put out of business by a VERY business unfriendly City. Then we are expected to be able to keep up our properties when there is NO $ coming in......Once again TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT INTRUSION!
What about the Mancuso property on Swan St? Where are the "Grass Police" for that?? I have had to look at THAT eyesore for YEARS upon YEARS...Not to mention the bricks that are FALLING from the building....It should have been knocked down a ZILLION years ago.....Have THEY been fined or better yet, threatened with JAIL like the rest of us?
VOTE OUT THE WHOLE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL....IT'S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE!!
Actually, absentee landlords
Actually, absentee landlords should start by cleaning their dirty lots. Failing to do so is going to be a very costly mistake. What a stinking mess those lots were.
Good Job! Inspections Department! Thanks for your hard work, much apprieciated!
Julie, For all of us who do
Julie,
For all of us who do not know you, or what business you had, what was it and how did the City put you out of business?
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I am glad to see that the
I am glad to see that the inspection department is finally getting around to getting some of these disgusting lots and lawns of the absentee landlords cleaned up. Most people work hard to keep their yards looking nice only to have jungles nearby to take away from all of their hard work! Not to mention all of the critters and insects that love living in all that tall grass and weeds!
What exactly constitutes a
What exactly constitutes a weed anyway? Before we "domesticated" certain plants, every plant was a weed. Every plant still is a weed until we put it in a container or nicely arrange it in our flower beds. Weed abatement ordinance? Really? How about fewer redundant and wasteful laws.
How would you have resolved
How would you have resolved this, or would you let them continue to grow?
I think when it is growing up
I think when it is growing up through the cracks in the concrete, it is clearly a weed.
Gee Jeff, then maybe the city
Gee Jeff, then maybe the city should have potted all of the "plants" they pulled up and potted them and sold them at the farmers market to defray their costs if that's the case.
I had no idea there would be
I had no idea there would be such a demand for our rare exotic parking lot "plants". Jeff, let me see if I can work out a deal with WalMart to distribute them for us. Sounds like a new cash crop for the city to me.
(Of course, the use of such "plants" would be strictly prohibited in the city but, Jeff you are more than welcome to take them home to your garden in Oakfield)
Finial some gets done..Been
Finial some gets done..Been complaining to the city for a while on this...Good job.Let go after some more..For 250 dollars i think he got a good deal..was alot of work of there..
I owned Backhoe's on Swan
I owned Backhoe's on Swan Street. I STILL own it as it sits decaying....The story about being put out of business is long and sad and has to do with Ed Flynn being TOTALLY incompetent! I really don't want to get into it on here, but the short of it is: Between secret underground smoking rooms, and bars who are allowed to open, even though City council says NO, who do NOT follow the law....I couldn't compete. Because I DID follow the law.
For the record, I used to have some of the best kept properties in town. I employed to do yard work etc as I have no trailer or other equipment. NOW, since my income has been decimated, I can't pay anyone to do the work, and I don't have the equipment nor the $ to buy it.
<shrugging> what am I supposed to do? If I could afford their ridiculous fines, I could PAY someone to do it!!!
I don't have $ to pay the fines ...I can BARELY pay my taxes right now...Give a girl a much needed BREAK!!!
I wonder how much $ My
I wonder how much $ My Gauteri has LOST sitting on this empty piece of real estate? Hmmmm. I'm sure people aren't lining up to do business in that building! That is an absolutly HUGE hit to take. And if the City didn't let him bid on anything, he prolly just got angry and said "screw it" (but more politly I am sure)
The landlords in this town have been BEGGING the City for YEARS to do something to get some good JOBS here so that we can have goon tenents. Instead, they just chase business away with high taxes (and now totally INTRUSIVE laws). Target etc is just a bunch of minimum wage jobs for high school kids, and retireees. A young person with a young family could NEVER work out there and be able to support their own.
I'm sorry, but I TRIED! I had THE cleanest bar in town (who donated generously to local charities), and some of the best looking property around. I even took some $ (that I didn't really have) to side one of my houses and I HADN"T RECIEVED A LETTER. I did it because the property looked like $#!+....THEN they send me a letter about the house next to it that it should be painted!! Are you kidding!!!!!
How much $$ is the "Grass Police" getting anyway? Didn't we just lose AMBULANCE because we couldn't afford it? (I might be wrong here)
Frankly I am out of $. I don't have the equipment nor the cash to pay people (MORE lost jobs here folks), or a crazy fine...
I'm SURE that there are more like me too. You can't take blood from a stone people. With what we pay in taxes we should be able to grow as many weeds as we like!
TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT INTRUSION.....VOTE OUT THE WHOLE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL.....
Julie, you say "The landlords
Julie, you say "The landlords in this town have been BEGGING the City for YEARS to do something to get some good JOBS here ..."
And then you say, "TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT INTRUSION.....VOTE OUT THE WHOLE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL..... "
Isn't that at contradiction?
It isn't the government's job to create jobs. Business people create jobs. If "landlords" or whomever wants to see more jobs in this town, why not band together and help some budding entrepreneurs get started? Business people helping business people. Capitalism at its best.
But of course, there is also a city run program to help local businesses create jobs, and the funds often go begging. What have the landlords down to help encourage people to take advantage of that program?
Not to be rude, and maybe I
Not to be rude, and maybe I don't understand what running a business is like, but I own a home and I make it a point to go through my yard once a week and pull up all the weeds that have grown. This is usually on the weekend and never takes very long. I can't imagine pulling the weeds out of your parkinglot could be very expensive or time consuming. It just comes off as lazy.
July, For the record, Mr.
July,
For the record, Mr. Gauteri stated it was at the County level, not the city, that he could not get bids with.
There was only one bid the city had that he could not bid on, but that was the no bid energy contract that Mr. Ferrando and crew gave to an out of the area company.
The way to attract biz (and
The way to attract biz (and people) to your City is to LOWER TAXES!!
LOWERING taxes does NOT constitute Government intrusion....
Batavia should be romancing the heck out of ANY industry that is looking at 14020 instead of chasing them away a.k.a. taxing them out of town!
Taxing (and regulating) the crap out of people is just punishing success (just like our current Fed Gov't wants to do)
Taxes get lowered, business comes to town, people are making $ again so they can actually afford to pay their rent (then landlords have the $ to fix stuff up)...and go out and *GASP* BUY things (sales tax revenue)
How many businesses in town have been victims of this recession? Wasn't there a count on here a few months ago? ALL that sales tax revenue is GONE now, along with those folks JOBS. I think the latest casualty is Pioneer credit going away. That will end up affecting some local eateries and drinkeries (again lowering tax revenue)
I pay enough property tax in Batavia that is equivelent to some City employee's salary. I am hurting VERY badly becasue of sitting on a bunch of empty real estate. I need HELP....NOT more regulations designed to take even MORE $ that I just don't have right now.
Is this all a conspiracy by the City to take everyones property?
Right on Julie...Funny how
Right on Julie...Funny how all these issues of our day come down to taxes.Buying cigs on rez,merging city and town,trying to get business to locate in the city,School systems all about taxation....Even on a national level,its always about taxes...Less taxes more freedom..When is it enought after you give up 30,40, 50 % of your income to taxes..
There are always places to
There are always places to save a little money, but big tax cuts in the city will be hard to make. Look at the problem with cutting ambulance service.
The only two big areas that can be cut are Police and Fire. It would make for a great poll on this site to ask, separately, if you live in the city, would you eliminate both departments.
Big cuts in property tax can
Big cuts in property tax can only come with major changes to the way we provide fire, police and garbage pickup. All three topics were up for serious public debate in the last couple years. The public accepted only small changes to balance our budget and no more. That's called democracy.
I forgot about the trash. We
I forgot about the trash. We were sort of stuck with ARC by law, but they did lower there rate, so that was a plus.
The ARC did a fine job
The ARC did a fine job lowering their cost, that was an important part of the many things that were done to balence the budget. Police dispatch consolidation, cuts in workforce, reductions in pay raises accepted by the unions, VLT monies, state grants, tax increases and many smaller efficiencies throughout all departments contributed. Elimination of the ambulance service will help keep the budget down in upcoming years as well.
There is very little room left in the city's budget except for cuts in workforce and the reductions in service levels that would come from that. From what I can see a vast majority of city residents do not seriously want to see the deep cuts it would take to lower taxes. I see a lot of coments from people who live outside the city complaining about city service levels and taxes. City residents expect the level of service they are recieving. We live in close quarters and need services people in rural areas do not.
There is only one other way to keep current service levels and lower costs, Consolidation. Now there is this dream of Americana that I see flourishing on this site to kill off consolidation of government services. The fact is you get what you pay for and localism costs money, a lot of it.
You know I just noticed while
You know I just noticed while going through the archives of The Batavian, that there is an article about how sales tax revenue is actually UP. It is UP because of Target/Lowe's (insert all the other big box stores here).
Interesting...
WHY did all those big box stores come here? Because of an Empire Zone tax break! Granted it is a bunch of crappy retail jobs, but at least it is SOMETHING. As an added bonus, people are actually spending $ there creating revenue!!!
TAX BREAKS FOR BUSINESS = INDUSTRY MOVING TO TOWN = JOBS = HIGHER SALES TAX REVENUE/HIGHER PAYROLL TAX REVENUE ETC..
The Powers That Be really need to be spending their (tax payer paid) time figuring out a solution to ATTRACT business here and lowering the tax burden, instead of wasteing time (and taxpayer $$$) deciding how long a taxpayer's grass can be.... A.K.A the "Grass Police"
Can't we get some of this "Stimulus" cash that the Feds are throwing around and put up a windmill at the school or something? That would lower our school tax bills, and we can prolly get the Feds to pay for it! I know that NYS will help schools out with something like HALF of the cost. This would CREATE some jobs and LOWER OUR TAXES!!
The County, which gets the
The County, which gets the sales tax money, and then gives it out to the City, towns and villages, said it was one of only two counties in the state that had an increase in sales tax, and they did not know why. It certainly did not all come from Target or the other stores in that area, many of which have a decrease in sales with the recession. It’s just a likely that it was the increase in gas prices that helped with the sales tax. Nobody seems to know for certain.
So John - now that
So John - now that consolidation will not be on the ballot in the fall, I'm assuming that the new charter will be up for a vote. Are there any changes in the new charter that might save money?
Julie, those jobs at the big
Julie, those jobs at the big boxes do nothing to spur economic growth. They do more to retard it.
Batavia Town Supervisor Post likes to brag about those big boxes, but at the consolidation meeting he talked about the need for government to help create jobs that will keep Batavia's young people from leaving town. Low-paying retail jobs won't keep the sons and daughters of Batavians in town. Most of them will leave for better opportunities. meanwhile, the presence of the big boxes keep driving American manufacturing jobs overseas in their insatiable appetite for lower and lower prices on cheaper and cheaper goods. So you can't have it both ways, want the big boxes and good paying jobs.
Not to mention that many of the sons and daughters of Batavians might want to start their own retail businesses, or take over a family business, but the big boxes make such retail entrepreneurship highly unattractive.
When I asked county officials if the new stores helped the sales tax revenue increase, they didn't want to say that.
And as I've said before, the solution to jobs in Genesee County won't come from the government. It's foolish to expect the government to create jobs. The solution will come from entrepreneurs -- motivated people willing to take a risk and start businesses. People who want a change need to make it themselves and stop pointing fingers at the government.
I'm not saying the government isn't screwed up or isn't a problem, but I'm not interested in standing on the sidelines blaming the government. I don't see how that's productive. I'd rather be doing something myself instead of scapegoating the government.
Beth, The only outright
Beth,
The only outright “Money saving” change is the removal of the mandatory requirement to have a City Engineer. My guess is that will save at least $130,000 a year in salary, office expenses, car use and benefits.
The rest of the changes will either bring us into compliance with NYS laws or make city and council operations more efficient.
By law, after our last meeting on the 24th, a brief summary of changes will be put in the paper and I will put them here also.
Charlie, you keep banging on
Charlie, you keep banging on this "Americana" thing -- in politics that's called framing. Politicians frame issues with irrelevant terms to avoid debate on facts and merit.
Nobody's talking about an Americana myth. Those of us who truly value small government, decentralized government, a government of the people rather than elite interests do so not out of some sense of misplaced nostalgia, bur rather because it's the most common sense approach to a life worth living in a civilized society.
It isn't about looking backwards. It's about looking forward, to creating a brighter and better future, to stop think about progress in terms of how big government can get.
Change doesn't always equal progress. There was a time when Batavians were told that tearing down the north side of Main Street and building a mall was progress. Was that really progress? Few people seem to think so today.
The mall is a picture-perfect lesson in why it's important to weigh all of the factors in any big change -- not just the dollars and sense of it, but the consequences both big and small of it. With the mall, nobody stopped to think how it would change the character of downtown, about the far reaching impact of displacing businesses and residents, of the trendiness of malls vs. the longstanding value of vital city centers.
Consolidation of the two Batavias may make a lot of sense, but so far what I see is a lot of smoke and mirrors. There's too much emphasis on grants from the state (which is just shifting the tax burden from one group of people to another group of people) and not enough on what actual savings we can expect.
Consolidation can have ramifications far reaching, and most importantly on the business community. It shouldn't be taken lightly. It shouldn't be painted as "you're against consolidation, so you're against progress, against saving money, and for everybody keeping their little fiefdoms." That's a narrow way of looking at it. Unless and until somebody can show us real and substantial cost savings, why should anybody support it? Just on the hope and dream that it might some day save money?
I'm not sold yet.
If fire and police are the biggest cost centers and consolidation could help lead to cost savings on those fronts, the time to have that discussion is now, before consolidation. How much could be saved? What are the level-of-service implications? What might be different? What are the alternatives? We need answers to those questions now, not after consolidation. To put that off on some as yet unelected body is to shirk the responsibility of planning what is maybe the key issue of consolidation.
We are talking cuts, and
We are talking cuts, and trying to save the city money right?
Has anyone looked into the cost of Health Insurance for city and county workers. I am interested to know what type of healthcare they are recieving now, and the cost to the city. I have heard county, state, and city employees, have the Cadillac of all insurances. Is this true?? How much are the taxpayers paying for these policys, verses the employees? How much of the city and counties money is going toward health insurance? This question was ignored on the last blogg Mark...
I do keep banging away on
I do keep banging away on this notion of small town Americana I see coming from you everyday. I believe your hung up on a dream and have blinders on to the hard cold truth. Government should be run as a business. Government needs to be given the flexibility to act like a profitable company that provides a service, much like Wal-Mart. I don't need government to give me identity or make me feel warm and fuzzy. I need them to pick up my trash, plow my street, put a fire out, throw bad guys in jail and do it at the lowest possible price, just like Wal-Mart.
Too many people want exactly what you want from Government. The warm and fuzzy approach is driving our state into the toilet.
Howard, Not all of Council is
Howard,
Not all of Council is on board with consolidation yet either. 1st Ward Councilman Bill Cox made the same points you make.
Julie, I don't think retail
Julie,
I don't think retail businesses are eligible for Empire Zone Tax Credits. I believe its only zoned for industrial businesses.
Are you planning for a run at City Council?
Big box stores are not
Big box stores are not driving jobs out of WNY and Batavia and consolidation will not change it.
Kodak, General Motors and the like are leaving, or have already left, the area because of Federal and State taxes, fees and regulations. It just cost too much to do business here. Batavia lost most of its high paying manufacturing jobs long before the “big box” stores came here.
Local consolidation might lower some costs, but is not going to bring manufacturing jobs into the area in droves, or they would already be in the Town. And let’s not kid ourselves; this new Federal cradle to grave health care plan will drive more jobs overseas.
Charlie, the last thing
Charlie, the last thing government should do is be run like a business. That's a nice sounding myth, but there are big differences between government and businesses.
-- Businesses have a profit motive and must remain cash-flow positive to remain in business. A business doesn't have the power to extort money from its customers, but must serve its customers in order to hope to keep revenue sufficient to meet its needs.
-- Government on the other hand can put you in jail if you don't give it money.
-- Businesses are rarely monopolies in this country, but all governments are monopolies. The City of Batavia, for example, has no competition.
-- Government can put you in jail for cussing in public. The local retailer or manufacturer does not have that power.
-- Government has public safety responsibilities that cannot be abrogated. A business can go out of business, but if the service is really needed, and can be provided at a price the marketplace can bear, another business will step in to replace it.
When you start thinking that government is business, it is what leads you to think, "Well, in order to remain profitable, we need to increase revenue -- let's raise taxes!" Just look at all of the tax increases Gov. Paterson proposed during the last budget session.
With a business, if revenues fall short, they go out of business. No government realistically faces that threat, which makes it impossible for government officials to really think like business leaders.
If government was a business, they would see themselves as partners with local business leaders, the way most local business owners do, rather than an outfit that can impose its will to its own benefit on local businesses.
I'm just frankly tired of hearing "government should be run like a business." It's preposterous and impossible.
I understand the cold hard truth perfectly: If we keep building larger and larger governments, we'll all get more and more screwed. I've had enough of big government. I want smaller and smaller. That's the only way to save ourselves.
John, Kodak has declined
John, Kodak has declined because of the consumer and professionals switch to digital cameras. It's merely a victom of changing technology, which is how it goes some times. Kodak makes very little or any film any longer, which used to be its largest profit center. Most of its digital cameras are manufactured overseas in order to meet the price demands of the largest retailers. General Motors is largely a failure of its leadership to meet the challenges of a changing marketplace and correctly gauge consumer demands and is irrelevant to any discussion of either WNY's economics or Big Box stores.
But the fact remains that tens of thousands of US manufacturing jobs have moved overseas because of the price demands primarily of Wal-Mart. A great example is Levi, which used to manufacture 95 percent of its clothing in the U.S. and now all Levi products are made overseas, all because Levi needed to meet the price demands of Wal-Mart to stay in business. Another example is Rubbermaid, which no longer even exists as an American company, but is merely a brand owned by an international conglomerate, with all manufacturing done overseas. Wal-Mart literally and factually drove Rubbermaid out of business.
Howard, You really don't see
Howard,
You really don't see taxes, rules, regulations and mandates driving business away. Like I said, around here, the manufacturing jobs left long before Wal Mart came
Why couldn't Levi or Rubermate lower prices here to stay in business?
Howard, Efficiency in
Howard, Efficiency in providing a service. Like a business.
Your letting too much cloud a very simple idea. People want to know their money isn't being wasted. Most money we pay in taxes is wasted because government has clouded the simple business practice of being effiecient. Too much warm and fuzzy and not enough Wal-Mart business smarts.
John, because American
John, because American workers won't work for $1 an hour, or less. I'm not necessarily an advocate of minimum wage laws, but let's be realistic, even without minimum wage, American manufactures can't compete with the wages paid in China. If American wages were as low we wouldn't really be having the same discussion, would we?
It would be interesting to look at all the manufacturers who have left WNY and research the reason. One that popped into my mind this evening was Sylvania, which left in Batavia in 1976, not because WNY was a bad place to do business, but because the brand was sold to an overseas-based conglomerate that had other business ideas than build TVs in Batavia. The Harvester Center hasn't been a large manufacturing plant since the 1950s -- was it really WNY government that chased that business away, or just a business decision to centralize in another location?
I'm just skeptical how much of the "blame government" position (and I'm NOT defending government) isn't just a convenient excuse.
It would be interesting to go through each manufacturing company that has shut down in WNY and document the actual reason for the plant closing. Did any CEO ever stand up and say, "We just can't stand all of these taxes and regulations any longer?"
I don't know. Let's go through each business one by one and compare notes and see what pattern emerges.
Keep in mind, my perspective is as a California expatriate, somebody who is here by choice (at this point, it's not just all fate, because I've passed up other, more lucrative opportunities to move because this is what I want to do and this is where I want to live), and I see the glass as half full. WNY has a lot to recommend it, and so far I'm not seeing any evidence that government -- as screwed up as it is -- is the cause of the high-paying job problem. It seems more like a series of unrelated decisions by individual businesses, and no new entrepreneurs stepping forward to start new businesses replacing those that left (or not enough).
That's why I say the solution isn't the government. It's individuals, it's private business. If people won't start and run businesses, no jobs will be created, no matter what government does to reform itself. My fear that so long was we blame government, people who might otherwise be willing to step forward and create jobs will fail to see the real opportunities that exist in WNY.
Charlie, the problem with
Charlie, the problem with government isn't "warm and fuzzy think" (that's just too fuzzy of a notion to even contemplate), nor that government isn't run like a business, but because government gets further and further removed from accountability to local citizens.
Washington and Albany have almost zilch in accountability, and those problems roll down to the local level in terms of unfunded mandates, etc.
At the local level, there is too much power given to staff and elected officials, who are accountable to the people, are powerless to ensure the local government is run according to their desires.
The most accountable government bodies in Genesee County are the town and village boards, which seems to be the ones you are most eager to see destroyed. Such bodies need more power, not less. And there is more local power in smallness, not in bigness. The smaller the better. The fewer voters be elected, the better. And only elected officials should make decisions and driving policy.
If elected officials were more accountable in Batavia back in the 70s/80s, there would be no mall, non-elected "urban planners" couldn't forced their will on the citizens.
Government needs to be run like government (not business), which means accountable to citizens and voters.
If you want more efficiency, make government more accountable, not less. Bigger means less accountability, less efficiency, greater opportunity for nefarious self-ambition.
So, if you're saying government should be more like Wal-Mart, are you saying government employees should work no more than 34 hours a week and not be able to afford health insurance? Is that the model for efficient government? Last I checked, police work couldn't be outsourced to China.
Howard that's a whole lot of
Howard that's a whole lot of words to respond to a simple idea. Yes, like Wal-Mart government needs to have latitude in outsourcing work to local companies and setting the hours of staff without so much regulation and contract restriction. Government is hamstrung by regulations put in place by special interest groups in Albany or local politicians who through the years helped their buddies get union agreements that are unsustainable.
Howard, My point was that
Howard,
My point was that there are a lot of things that drove out business and it was not all "big box" stores. In the seventies, Japan allowed it companies to write off plants in half the time we allowed ours. They could buy new equipment and build new plants faster and did.
Many countries don’t tax personal savings, leaving more to be borrowed by business and individuals at lower interest rates. Us, we punish you if save your money with high tax rates. You save it, we take it.
And with our dollar losing value daily, more companies will leave. When all this new bail out money finally works through the system, inflation will kill off many more jobs than that evil Wal Mart did.
Charlie, it's a lot of words
Charlie, it's a lot of words because it's not a simple idea. That's the whole point. And there's a big difference between privatizing some government services and Wal-Mart forcing manufacturing jobs overseas. It's not comparable notions.
We spent the weekend in
We spent the weekend in Niles, Ohio where we attended the Muckdog/Scrapper games on Friday and Saturday.
I was far more interested in the location of Eastwood Field than I was in the games (Muckdogs lost both games).
Eastwood Field is located in Eastwood Mall. Yep, a mall complex.
Not your regular cookie cutter mall, although it did have all of the normal mall occupants, but a series of malls; restaurants; professional offices; theatres; expo center; the ball park; a baseball training facility; and more. I counted over 350 stores; offices; and other facilities surrounded by adequate parking.
It was as if they took our business districts on Main St., Jackson St., Center St., and Ellicot St. and combined them to make a mecca for local shoppers and visitors alike.
While we were there, we saw an outdoor concert by a local band in front of one of the restaurants; a large antique car show, a benefit baseball game at the stadium - which was well attended and a lot of fun. We were treated to a "Jimmy Buffett" like concert after the Saturday game.
We found a beautiful local park in which to have a picnic lunch and watched a girls' softball team practice on a well maintianed field. This park, by the way, also had a boat launch, a fishing dock, a basketball court, a picnic pavilion and clean rest room facilities. The park was less than 5 minutes away from the mall.
Outside the actual mall area, but surrounding it were hotels; restaurants; small businesses etc. The place was bustling.
I will blog more about the trip when I have time later today.
I will admit thinking that this could have been Batavia.
Imagine the stadium in the middle of the city as part of an attractive and attracting retail complex? Imagine the big box stores in harmony with local businesses rather than chasing them away. That is what we saw in Niles.
Government needs taxes to
Government needs taxes to live..More taxes bigger government..Less taxes smaller government..Businesses leaves because of the taxation .
Its not about getting rid of our fire and police.Its about what we pay them..Firemen making 100,000 a year is the problem..Time to cut some pay and benefits.Giving out raises to dept.heads for doing there job in this type of economy is the problem..I think it was Karen who asked what kind of health care plan are we giving these employees..Maybe they need to be paying more for them.Private sector sure does..
Thats for sure Mark, We have
Thats for sure Mark, We have to take the cuts in our health coverage, higher co-pays. We have had Blue Cross Blue Shield for years, and they have made lots of changes, at the expence to the policyholder. Thats why I am wondering about the Health Insurance thing. This question has been sidelined twice. Something is Arie. LOL
John Roach said: "The
John Roach said:
"The County, which gets the sales tax money, and then gives it out to the City, towns and villages, said it was one of only two counties in the state that had an increase in sales tax, and they did not know why."
Sorry, I disagree. My theory on the sales tax is:
Batavia now has all the big box stores. People from Genesee County would drive to Buffalo or Rochester to shop before. Erie and Monroe would get the tax cash. When gas became expensive, it started to keep people in town to shop rather than driving 30 miles one way or the other.
Target and them MAY have had a decrease in sales because of recession nationally. But locally, here in 14020 they are all kicking some serious butt! Those parking lots are always full. I actually come there to shop because Genesee County has lower sales tax.
How could expensive gas create tax revenue? People just go to the Rez.
Garbage Issue; I remember
Garbage Issue; I remember this being an issue at NIC meetings.
Let's talk about Non-Profits (enter scary music here) and how much of a drag they are on City $. They pay NO taxes and get police, fire, garbage etc.
Since they pay ZERO in taxes, why can't they pay for their own garbage pick up. That would be a HUGE savings for the City.
How much property in Batavia is considered Non Profit and not paying any tax? What is that number? Has anyone ever asked that?
THEY need to start PAYING.
Scrimping on Police service would be a disaster with the economy in shambles. The Batavia Police did SUCH a GREAT job working with us when we had the bar!!!!
How could expensive gas
How could expensive gas create tax revenue? People just go to the Rez
Julie- while some are deceived by the "no tax on gas" at the rez, if they had half a brain, they would realize the price is a couple of cents less. So why isn't the gas at the reservation 59 cents less? That is exactly what portion of the price you pay at any station in New York! I'll tell you why, cause you are being duped!
And as for the increase in tax revenue, Mr. Roach is dead on. Most Batavians, or Leroyans, work in Rochester or Buffalo. The higher the price of gas, the more tax revenue. You can't cut back on travel to and from work, and we pay more sales tax at 2.70 a gallon than 2.00 a gallon.
Karen and Mark, I wasn’t side
Karen and Mark, I wasn’t side stepping a response; I thought you both knew the answer and were making a statement.
Of course the insurance polices the city provides to our police and fire departments are very far above what you can get at a real good job in the private sector. In fact, far better than I have at my own job.
You have to understand that you can not simply stop providing a negotiated benefit with a municipal union without them agreeing to it. You can not even make a change to the benefits without agreement. The mistakes were made years ago during fat times and they can not be undone with the State laws that are currently on the books.
I do think universal healthcare would go a long way in leveling the playing field but, that’s not a debate for a post about cleaning up problem properties in the city.
Patrick, I went to the
Patrick,
I went to the Empire Zone web site. The info there is VERY ambiguous, however it does look like Empire Zone is not just reserved for industry. From what I could gather out of their psycho-babble, is that Empire Zone is out of money anyway (much like "cash for clunkers).
And NO, I am not running (and never would) run for City Council. I don't even live in the City any more. They chased me out with HIGH TAXES! Unfortunately I still own quite a bit of property there (and pay taxes on it). THAT is why all of this concerns me so.
Charlie ,thanks for the info
Charlie ,thanks for the info on health care..Their is no reason the city can't go back and reopen the contract with the city employees..Private industry is doing it..Ford got the UAW to reopen their contract.IT can be done..Julie made so many great points..The one about non profits not paying taxes is so right on..Just look at all the trash GASCA put out every week...Make them pay..what happen to pay per bag for trash..Sounded like a good idea..Why do i pay for trash pick up on the assessed value of my house..In other words every body is paying a different price for trash pick up.Talk about un fair..Take it out of the budget..
Also Julie the way i see it why are their Empire Zones ..Is the state saying that taxes are to high ,so let give some a tax break and not others..
And as I've said before, why
And as I've said before, why shouldn't the downtown businesses, or all the locally owned businesses, get the same tax break enjoyed by the retail outlets on Veteran's Memorial Drive?
Hmmmm, I was finally back to
Hmmmm, I was finally back to comment on what I said earlier about weeds, but it doesn't seem to be a discussion about weeds anymore. Boy, you walk away from the computer for a while and debates take some really big turns.
Mark, negotiations are an
Mark, negotiations are an ongoing process. Jason has proven to be up to the task. He has made headway but, everything has to be agreed to by the union.