You
may have heard by now I am honored
again to be endorsed by the
Republican, Conservative and
Independence Parties for my third term
as your Commissioner of Finance. My
first three years have been
challenging but we have set the ground
work for a solid financially sound
future for our city.
I
would like to thank the thousands of
residents who signed my Video Lottery
Terminal (VLT) funds petition last
fall and helped me in the campaign to
bring back this sorely needed revenue
source. Your overwhelming response
sent a clear message to our state
leaders in Albany. Second, I would
like to thank all those residents who
took the time to provide input and to
my fellow council members for their
assistance in refining my plan on what
to do with those funds now that we are
receiving them again.
I
have proposed a plan for the use of
VLT funds and the council has taken
steps to put this plan in place. I’d
like to take this opportunity to
outline the plan and explain why
certain decisions were made. As you
may or may not know, the VLT
legislation has certain restrictions
on how these funds can be used, so my
plan had to take those into
consideration.
The
VLT legislation dictated that funds
could be used to either
defray local costs associated with a
video lottery gaming facility
or
to help offset the tax burden to local
taxpayers. Coming out of one of the
worst economic recessions ever,
reducing taxes and positioning the
city for long term stability were my
priorities. Since the VLT
legislation was not passed until long
after we had set our tax rate for
2011, we could not lower the property
tax rate for this year. Therefore, I
asked fellow council members to
identify priority items that had been
deferred to the 2012 budget that we
could use now, thereby reducing next
year’s tax burden. We are allocating
$451,000 for items that fall into this
category
including paving near the Casino &
Raceway.
Given
the unpredictable nature of the
receipt of revenues, especially the
VLT funds, we needed to take steps to
reduce the tax burden for the future.
The
solution was the creation of a
“Contingency and Tax Stabilization
Reserve Fund”. The purpose of this
fund is to help keep taxes below 2.5%
and to be used when there is an
unanticipated loss of revenue (i.e.
when budgeted VLT funds do not arrive
or an unanticipated expense is
realized).
Initially the Council is allocating
$1,000,000 to this Reserve Fund and it
is my hope to increase it the next
couple of years.
This way, future councils may safely
pass a budget in the fall knowing that
if unexpected shortfalls arise, the
city isn’t left in the lurch.
As
this fund builds, it will create a
safety net for unpredictable economic
downturns.
I am
cautiously optimistic that we have
turned the corner and are on the path
toward my vision of a fiscally sound
Saratoga. I pledge to continue fiscal
responsibility and the fight for
reduced government and lower taxes.
I
once again ask for your support, so I
can insure that the ground work we
have worked so hard for will not go to
waste but provide stability to our
fiscal future. |