Grandinetti, Touma seek to postpone budget vote until after Council election
M
Mike Hudson · October 13, 2017
SharefXin✉
City Councilmembers Kristen Grandinetti and Andrew Touma have come up with what they think is a great idea, that is, defer consideration of Mayor Paul Dyster’s whopping proposed tax increase until after the November election.
Niagara Falls is already the most highly taxed municipality in the state based on the total value of the property here, and New York is the most highly taxed state in the nation.
Both Mr. Touma and Ms. Grandinetti, who have acted largely as rubber stamps for the mayor’s out of control spending habits, are running for reelection.
Mayor Dyster has proposed a 2.8 percent tax increase on residential property here and a 14 percent increase on business properties that will undoubtedly force some businesses to close and cause even more people to flee the city altogether.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli recently issued a highly critical audit of the Dyster administration’s spending, and said the numbers show that the city will be completely broke by December.
Councilmembers Touma and Grandinetti have proposed putting off the budget process until after the November 7 general election.
“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,” reads their resolution, which will be voted on at the Oct. 16 council meeting and of which the two are the sole sponsors, “by the City Council of the City of Niagara Falls, New York, that the budget amendment meeting scheduled for November 6, 2017 is hereby cancelled and rescheduled to take place on November 16, 2017 and the budget amendment meeting scheduled for November 8, 2017 is hereby cancelled and rescheduled to take place on November 21, 2017…”
In an online posting, former Mayor Vince Anello scoffed at Mayor Dyster’s proposed solution.
“In Niagara Falls there is plenty of stress over a proposed tax increase. What stresses me more, is the fact that this proposed tax increase would amount to an overall increase of about $2,371.724,” he wrote. “The tax increase will not even cover payroll.”
Councilmembers Grandinetti and Touma are attempting to postpone the budget vote to raise your taxes until after the Nov. 7 election.
The city administration has been using about $12 million in revenue from the Seneca Niagara Casino annually in its general fund budget. The amount generated by the tax increase will not even come close to making up for that.
And make no mistake, the casino cash is not coming back anytime soon. In fact it may never come back.
Mayor Dyster said he was counting on the state for additional aid to get the city through until the issue with the Seneca is resolved. But when asked about the possibility, Gov. Andrew Cuomo laughed out loud (See related story).
In nine years, the Dyster administration burned through around a quarter of a billion dollars in casino revenue with nothing substantial to show for it. The squandering of this substantial fortune is seen as borderline criminal by many here, and his allies on City Council – Mr. Touma and Ms. Grandinetti – don’t want to be the ones who take the fall.
Their solution? Not cutting back on city expenses, not laying off city workers who form the basis of their voting block.
Their solution is to postpone the tax increase vote until after the election.
By Tony Farina The Niagara Falls State Park, located in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and created in 1885, is recognized as the oldest state park in the U.S. and contains the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls, and a portion of the Horseshoe Falls (also known as the Canadian Falls). Following a $44-million refurbishment of the 221-acre park in 2003, in 2007 it was named the 10 th most beautiful spot in America by “The Today Show.” According to the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, the State Park receives more than nine million visits each year. It is
By Tony Farina There is much excitement in the airwaves at WEBR The Breeze as station manager and program director Frank Miller has announced that beginning on Monday, Aug. 24, the talent he has been hoping to bring in for some time will be joining the WEBR midday lineup from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every weekday. “We’re just thrilled to be launching the Kadie Daye show on Monday, and we are so looking forward to having a talent like Kadie on our airwaves at WEBR AM 1440, FM 105.3 and FM 106.9,” Miller said in talking about the new
By Tony Farina Promises are nice and they bring hope for the future. But unfortunately, most of the time, promises have fallen flat for the City of Niagara Falls, some succeeding but many turning out to be empty promises and major disappointments. At this point, Niagara Falls doesn’t need more failed promises. What the city needs is progress to build a better future and a plan to make it work. City leadership must bring it all together. While there are promises to build a better future on the table and being talked about, like Centennial Park and the Niagara Digital
By Tony Farina The radioactive slag bubbling up across Niagara County in recent weeks, triggering state and federal testing and some remedial work and family relocations, is the ongoing and seemingly never-ending legacy of the environmental desecration of the past 100-plus years by massive corporations dumping toxic waste that was the subject of Christen Civiletto’s book Thundering Waters. “What we have again is an environmental storm,” said attorney and former Grand Island Supervisor Nate McMurray, a candidate for election to the 45th District State Assembly seat now open because of the retirement of Angelo Morinello. McMurray will run for the
