3-26-10
To the Editor:
Congratulations, Mayor-elect Booan
What we had expected, and still expect of the incoming mayor, is a focus on the big picture, not the picayune matters that seem to distract some of the electorate and elected officials. To that end we’d heartily encourage you to focus on some of the following:
1. “Home Rule”
taxing authority
The village should have full authority to collect local sales and bed taxes. This of course does not increase taxes, it just enables revenues to be allocated more efficiently – where they were collected. The loss of this local revenue has amounted to tax farming at the Village’s on-going expense. More needs to be done here. Your background at BOCES should be of use.
2. Equalization of
ad valorem taxes
By not keeping their ad valorem appraisals current, some area townships have become parasitic on shared services – notably the school district, where the Town of Otsego/Village of Cooperstown pay a disproportionate share of taxes based on their more current assessments.
Foregoing routine tax reassessment would not be an option in most states. It is, like your governor, one of New York’s less charming peculiarities.
While this is not directly a matter of village policy, the schools are beggared of tax revenue, and so the Village’s residents suffer. So it is directly in the village’s interest to see this disparate tax burden addressed - if necessary via legislation.
The glib response to this problem might be to “roll back” ad valorem valuations in the Town of Otsego - to match those of its neighboring townships. But, from what I gathered, you were not elected to be glib or ignore ad valorem disparities that impact the quality of education and other services. BOCES is a legislated example of communal effort - so again, a plus as a model for how such ad valorem equalization could be accomplished.
3. Gas Drilling
If some of the local shale gas deposits are as lucrative as they appear to be, the county could enjoy a windfall in tax revenue. I chair the gas committee at Otsego 2000 and, from I can gather, the county has no clue how to regulate the likely amount of drilling activity. New York is one of only three states without a direct taxation on gas production and one of only two that compromises its EPA (the DEC) with issuing well-permits - the very activity it is supposed to regulate. This is not a coincidence.
There are no road use permits in place for drilling rigs that I am aware of. Nor is the valuation of mineral rights fully understood by local tax appraisers. So, simply put, New York municipalities and counties are almost completely unprepared for what may be coming their way.
The village could take a lead in regulating this activity, or watch its roads get torn up and water polluted by its inaction. I’d encourage you to take a pro-active role in this matter. Every regulation and policy necessary to effectively regulate and tax this activity has been tried and proven in other states - notably Texas and Colorado. So no need to reinvent these wheels. Just identify best practices from other states, counties, and municipalities and confirm that New York law allows it. Otsego County has a great opportunity to reap the benefits of this resource, and do so with the best possible regulations - as cribbed from the school of hard knocks elsewhere.
4. HPARB
We remodeled a house on River Street in accordance with historic guidelines. Since the HPARB is just getting its bearings on regulating this activity, I would encourage you to support them. The historic character of the village is one of its great attractions. One that some of its residents seem to take for granted - as evidenced by the way they maintain their properties or seek to alter them in the name of modernity or expediency. We do not drive 1,200 miles twice a year to summer at Lake George, or any other town whose historic character has been ruined by lax code enforcement or faddish developments. We could do that right here in Texas.
Some people speak very highly of your administrative ability and foresight. We are thoroughly looking forward to being dazzled. Let me know if there is anything I can do to be of service.
We wish you the very best of luck.
JAMES NORTHRUP
Dallas, Texas,
(and Cooperstown)
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