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mailmanLast November when I read a Lansing Star Article (Nov. 14, 2014) and a quote from Ed LaVigne in which he said the Lansing Tax Base had gone down $37 million over the past couple years, I knew it was not right but I let it go as a slip of the tongue.

Last Friday when I read that the Town was saving $50,000 by not hiring a full time planner I decided to check, both on this as well as his former comment last November; I remembered the cautionary statements by Supervisor Miller that a part time planner might cause other expenses such as legal and zoning expenses to rise, thus wiping out any savings.

What I learned:

1. According to the County Assessment Office, Lansing's tax base has been steadily rising, except for one year.   It slipped by 1% or $19 million in 2012 because of the Pyramid Mall and AES decreases in valuation which were partially offset by increases elsewhere.   The history shows that the Lansing Tax Base has been going up between 0.25% and 9% over the past 10 years.

2. I was told by the Town Supervisor's office there is no evidence that the Town will be saving $50,000 with a part time planner.  They said that the projections for 2015 year end expenses in the planning and zoning fund show that although the costs for a planner are down, the lack of a full time person has caused costs for legal and zoning support to rise.  Hence, the projected year-end total expenses are higher than in 2012 (corrected for inflation), the last year in which we had a full time person in that position.

I am concerned that a candidate for Town Supervisor with full access to Town monthly expenditure reports and tax base history would make such erroneous statements without checking.

I'll support Kathy Miller for Supervisor and Andra Benson and Katrina Binkewicz for Town Board.  They understand the issues at stake.  Lansing needs someone full time to help with planning Lansing's future.

Marcy Rosenkrantz
Town of Lansing

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