Archive: News

Kathy Miller (D) won the race for Lansing Town Supervisor Tuesday with 68.4% of the vote.  Edward J. LaVigne (R) won a seat on the town council, receiving 1,246 votes, and Ruth Hopkins (D) won the second open seat with 978 votes.  Highway Superintendent Jack French (R), Town Clerk Debbie Crandall (R), and Town Justice John Howell (R) were all reelected in uncontested races for those seats. "I'm obviously pleased with the results and I want to thank everybody that did help me," Miller said after the election.  "I had a cadre of people who worked very hard.  I think there is a lot to do and I'm ready to get down to work and do what needs to be done for the town."

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The session was short, the comments appreciative, as the Tompkins County Legislature tonight took comment on the recommended amended County Budget for 2012.

Wednesday’s formal budget hearing lasted only ten minutes, and four people spoke.  All of them, representing the county human services community, thanked Legislators for their work in balancing the need for services with fiscal pressures, and providing support in difficult times.

A report released Thursday by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli as part of the state’s Quick Start budget process projects a current year shortfall that appears manageable, but finds that out-year deficits are likely to increase. Over the three-year forecast period, revenue and spending could deviate from current estimates by more than $1.5 billion. The report will be revised following the release of the Mid-Year Update to the Financial Plan.

“The current year enacted budget made positive strides in addressing the ongoing structural deficit,” DiNapoli said.  “However, we still face challenges and risks and there is much that could undermine some of the good work of the last year.  Fiscal pressures – particularly on the revenue side – pose a significant challenge, and achieving balance will require an ongoing commitment by state leaders to live within our means.”

Last year, I drove to see the gas drilling in Dimock, PA.  Last week, I took another trip to Dimock to see what had changed.

Last year, there were drilling rigs on every road.  Now, where did all the gas wells go?  Surely they were still there since I was on the same roads and I could see signs of gas pipelines. At least 75% of the wells were no longer visible from the many roads I drove.

Village Trustees agreed on a basic layout for a new municipal office building Monday, clearing the way for Architect Vincent Nicotra to begin developing detailed plans for the 2662 square foot building.  Mayor Donald Hartill says he hopes construction will begin next Spring.

"It's most important that the people who work in this building are happy and comfortable, and their needs are met," Trustee Lynn Leopold said.

The Lansing Town Council passed its $4,249,808 2012 budget 3-2 after a short public hearing Wednesday.  The budget will reduce the town's tax levy by .0833%.  Most significantly the tax rate will be lowered by 15% from $1.6241 per $1,000 of assessed property value this year to $1.3805.

Because of reduced expenditures over the past four years that have resulted in an unexpended fund balance that is expected to be significantly more than twice the size the council has agreed it should be, board members agreed that some of the money should be used to reduce the tax rate over the next three years.  At issue was the amount of the tax drop.

Lansing Fire Commissioners voted Tuesday to solicit bids to demolish the Village of Lansing fire station.  District officials have long considered replacing the facility, at first because it is too small for modern emergency equipment, and now because the building has been determined to have deteriorated to the point where it is considered unsafe.  That has accelerated a plan to raze the current building and replace it on the same property at 119 Oakcrest Road.

"We are trying to work with the Village so it fits into the area down there," says Fire Commissioner Jeff Walters.  "Instead of having the big double doors we're going to go with single doors and go with earth tone colors like they have at the malls so it doesn't look commercial on that road.  We know we want to go with a peak roof.  A flat roof would look more commercial."

Lansing Town Board members voted Tuesday to reduce the Town tax rate by 15% for the 2012 budget.  While that's considerably smaller than the 44.15% reduction they considered in late September, it still represents a larger tax break than other local municipalities can offer.  But concerns about economic uncertainty and under-funded town departments led Supervisor candidates Kathy Miller and Connie Wilcox to advocate for a 15% tax rate drop, and some board members seemed to be regretting cuts, especially to the Highway Department, over the past three years.

"Our taxpayers are not complaining about their town taxes," Wilcox said.  "They're complaining about their county taxes and their school taxes, but they are not complaining about their town taxes.  And for what they get for their town taxes, they're very happy."

Election day is Tuesday, November 8th.  Here is the ballot for Lansing Town Government.  Click on a picture for an interview with candidates for contested positions (Town Supervisor and Town Board).

Supervisor
Kathy Miller (D)	Connie Wilcox (I)
Town Board
Ed LaVigne (R) (at right)	Ruth Hopkins (D) (at right)
Andra Benson (R)	Michael Koplinka-Loehr (D) (at right)
Town Justice, Town Clerk, Highway Superintendent (uncontested)
(left to right) John Howell (R), Town Justice; Debbie Crandall (R) Town Clerk; Jack French (R), Highway Superintendent

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Washington, D.C. - U.S. Reps. Richard Hanna (R-NY) and Lee Terry (R-NE) and recently introduced H.R. 3257, the Regulatory Time-Out Act of 2011, which temporarily prohibits the adoption of any new, discretionary federal regulation that would cost the American economy more than $100 million.

This regulatory moratorium would last through January 21, 2013, when routine enforcement of new regulations would resume. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is supportive of the bill. Read about the Chamber’s view here.

Legislature Adopts 2012 Budget Amendments
The Tompkins County Legislature, by a vote of 12-3, formally adopted amendments to the 2012 tentative budget, as recommended by its Expanded Budget Committee. (Legislators Dooley Kiefer, Carol Chock, and Leslyn McBean-Clairborne voted no).  The amended tentative budget will be sent on for review and comment by the public at the Legislature’s public hearing on the budget Wednesday, November 9.

The $161.9 million recommended budget, including $77.5 million in local dollar spending, would raise the tax levy (the total amount of property tax revenue needed to balance the budget) by 3.99%.  The countywide average tax rate in the recommended amended budget would increase by 3.1%, to $6.67 per thousand dollars assessed property value, an increase of $31.85 for the average $160,000 home.  The recommended levy increase is just over 1% above the 2.92% level that would be required to fall within the state property tax cap.

Lansing Drilling Committee Chairman Larry Beck presented initial findings to the Town Board last week.  He said the committee found that Lansing is very much behind other local towns in preparing for the possible consequences of gas drilling, and urged the board to update its comprehensive plan, zoning, and land use ordinances.  On Tuesday the committee will ask residents to tell the Town what they really think by filling out a quick survey after voting on Tuesday.

"The main reason for doing this is to get a sense of how Lansing residents feel about this major issue that is going to be facing the Town in the next few months," says committee member Rachel Bean.