Well things were certainly interesting at the City Council meeting last night — and not just because of the protestors and people who spoke out on alleged police misconduct in the city.

The discussion over the Capital Program was lengthy and seemingly unproductive.

At first, Democrat Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan walked through most of the 29 items on the list and asked for some clarification of the project, the funding source or asked if they were necessary at all (that tended to be asked of Republican Public Works Commissioner Anthony "Skip" Scirocco).

All of that was to be expected as the Council was poised to adopt the program, but the conversation soon devolved into an argument over what passing the Capital Program actually means.

"This is a bigger, more philosophical discussion here. It's not just about these projects," Madigan said at one point during the discussion. That conversation, in substance, is outlined in this article, though I may update it today with some comment from the Commissioners.

It was, in fact, the same conversation they had last budget cycle. 

At the same time, Scirocco accused Madigan of playing politics when she said she is "not coming out with a tax rate that overrides the tax cap. I will make this tax rate low and flat."

"Commissioner Madigan, that's a wonderful political speech," Scirocco said.

"That's right it is and you're going to be responsible for a higher tax rate" if Scirocco got his way, she shot back.

Madigan wasn't the only one to go after Scirocco, either.

While she and Scirocco were going through his capital requests (which Madigan hinted may be cut to lower the tax rate and Scirocco insisted were "necessary to public health and safety") his opponent for the job, Bill McTygue, was sitting in the peanut gallery.

"WRONG!" he kept — well, not shouting, but grumbling loud enough for everyone to hear.

Scirocco, for his part, started playing into the "conversation," saying "Bog meadow is an alternative to the Saratoga Lake Project, which would have cost $20 million. This one is $1 million, right?" asking City Engineer Tim Wales who was there to explain the capital projects.

(MyTygue: "WRONG!")

Scirocco: "These infrastructure projects are necessary. They were neglected for years and years and years," saying they should have been taken care of by the previous, McTygue administration (which Bill McTygue was integral in).

(McTygue: "WRONG!")

Madigan, Scirocco and eventually Mayor Scott Johnson all said they would rather not have the comments.

"I just can't take the lies," McTygue told the mayor, who said he would have him removed if he couldn't keep quiet.

"Are you ordering me out of the room?" he asked.

"I will if you keep commenting," the mayor said.

"Go ahead," McTygue responded.

The mayor said he should leave, but McTygue didn't move, but also didn't talk for the rest of the meeting (that I saw).

It occurs to me that this break-out box (as they are called) that appeared in print never made it online. I wrote a story on the mayor's race, but here is what all of the other city politicians have been doing:

Office	Candidate	Starting balance	$ Raised	$ Spent
Accounts	John Franck	$8,636	$7,798	$2,556
	John Arpei	$0	$100	$0
Public Safety	Christian Mathiesen	$3,372	$0	$76
	Richard Wirth	$31	$6,291	$1,083
Public Works	Anthony "Skip"     Scirocco	$949	$9,273	$2,022
	William McTygue	$0	$9,977	$1,080
Finance	Michele Madigan	$2,386	$6,939	$2,684

A few things to point out.


John Franck seems to have the most money on hand of any candidate (except those for mayor). Most of his money has come in $100 and $200 contributions, though there is one $2,323 unitemized entry from February, which is likely his annual fundraiser.


John P. Arpei's $100 reported Monday was contributed by John P. Arpei, but then he only officially announced he was running two weeks ago.

Christian Mathiesen didn't just not raise or spend any money as of Monday, but he filed a "no activity statement" last week indicating he hadn't done any fundraising or spending between the January and July periodic filings. The "Starting balance" was actually from his January disclosure.


Richard Wirth received mostly small contributions with two notable exceptions: $1,000 from both Leon Pokoik from Sarasota, Fla., and the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee. I also noticed a couple police officers on his list, but they were for under $100 apiece.


Anthony "Skip" Scirocco's money has come with a few big contributions. There was a $500 from Minerva Coins and Jewelry and a $1,000 from the Saratoga County Republican Committee. He also has a list of unitemized: one for $4,019 from June and another for $500 even from April. The latter seems a little odd to me, since they are usually aggregate numbers from small donations or transfers...


William McTygue started with nothing earlier this year and raised about the same amount as Scirocco between January and July. Most of it came in small contributions, though there were two $500 ones from Charles Morrison and Bonnie Design. There was also an unitemized donation from July for $2,618.


Despite not having an opponent, Michele Madigan has raised a relatively substantial sum in the last six months. Her biggest single contributor was the Police Benevolent Association (She also has managed to get more cops hired, so you know…) with $1,000. She was the only candidate they contributed to. She also received a $445 contribution from Sheila A’Hearn.

She also received unitemized contributions of $245, $975 and $1,374, all on the same day in March.

If you are interested, visit the Board of Elections website and type in the name of the candidate you want to look at.  When the next screen comes up, you can look at all of the individual pieces of the candidate's fundraising committee.

For donations, scroll to the bottom and select the year you want. Then click "Get List" to see contributors that year.

Well the Housing Authority was as contentious as ever Tuesday night at the City Council meeting where Democrats attacked each other over what should be done about the salaries of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority.

"You need to do your job tonight and take a vote on this resolution," Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan told Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen, who was trying to table the vote on disapproving Housing Authority salaries proposed by Madigan.

Mathiesen said he did his job every City Council meeting.

"You're not doing it tonight by asking me to table this resolution," she responded.

Mathiesen was arguing that he needed more information about the salaries before he could vote to disapprove the SSHA salaries Tuesday night.

That was, ironically, the same argument Mayor Scott Johnson used to justify voting for the disapproval, something he said was "not a vote of no confidence" about the SSHA, just a vote that indicated he did not have enough information to make up his mind.

Meanwhile Madigan and Accounts Commissioner John Franck basically said Mathiesen was making their point for them.

They have repeatedly requested information from the SSHA and though some has been provided, the supporting documentation for the salaries has not been among it.

SSHA policy requires that they basically justify the salaries they pay their employees.

"I cannot even fathom how you can justify a public employee's salary doubling in four years," Madigan said (again to Mathiesen).

As an explanation, here's something from a year and a half ago:

"(Executive Director Ed) Spychalski’s 2011 compensation is $151,956, not including benefits, including the use of a publicly-owned vehicle. His starting salary in November 2006 was $74,777 and he has received $77,179 in pay raises since then."

That included two bonuses, so in the fiscal year that starts next month his salary is being proposed as about $145,000.

"Is he overpaid? Possibly," Mathiesen said. "Is he outrageously overpaid? I don't think so."

Mathiesen said he needed more information from the Housing Authority before he would vote on the issue.

"We've been talking about this for 19 months now," Franck said. 

Here's another couple tidbits from past stories:

According to the State Comptroller's audit of the SSHA conducted last year, Spychalski makes more than 93 percent of the housing authority directors in the country.

That includes the directors Plattsburgh, Troy, Schenectady and Albany, each of which handles “significantly more tenant rentals” than the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority.

In fact, Spychslki at his peak made about $45,000 less than the New York City Housing Authority director, John Rhea, who managed 178,882 apartments, 2,602 residential buildings and 334 developments, according to its website.

Anyway, it's unlikely the vote will have much of an effect on the SSHA.

They vote on their 2013-2014 salaries with their budget Thursday and Board member Al Callucci said he expects the budget to pass, as is.

"There's no reason it shouldn't," he said, after the City Council meeting. 

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen stated, matter of factly, that when Greg Veitch becomes the chief of police it will leave a hole in the upper-end of the department that will need to be filled by other officers.

So it sounds pretty official that Veitch is the new chief, which isn't a surprise. I'm told a press conference or press release will be issued Friday about the transition.

The other part of his statement is also something to pay attention to. When Veitch takes over for Police Chief Chris Cole, who is retiring, it is going to mean that two of the top three positions in the department will be left empty (Assistant Chief and Captain). There are I believe five lieutenants and a handful of sergeants, a couple of whom will likely be moving up in the department.

In the mean time, the City Council just voted to hire two new police. While the only dissenting vote was the mayor, John Franck came to the defense of the cuts that have left the department in a seeming perpetual state of short-staffing.

Mathiesen has long advocated for hiring the officers back who had been laid off in 2010. "It puts too much pressure on the remaining members of the force," he said Tuesday. 

Mathiesen said the cuts were "foolhardy" and "apparently taken lightly," for which Franck told him he was "uneducated" about the issue.

Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan, who (curiously) was the one to propose hiring two new officers, argued that the "magic number" in the department seems to be 72 officers, but Franck said before the layoffs "they were saying they needed 91 officers."

Mathiesen, then, said they may need more than 72.

"72 may bee too low, frankly, given the activity in our city," he said. If he had his druthers, he said, he would hire a consultant to evaluate how many officers the department actually needs.

Many seemed in favor of that, but as Mathiesen has told me in the past, it may cost a good deal of money which could be applied to more important public safety needs.

Maybe with two new officers coming in, though, now will be the time.

Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan was the sole City Council member in the room when a county committee put the kibosh on changing last call.

State Liquor Authority representatives issued a ruling that any request for a change would have to be county-wide and come from the Board of Supervisors. Last week, though, a committee at the county voted not to make that request.

Madigan said the fact that the vote happened surprised her, but the vote itself did not.

Madigan said at the City Council table the night they forwarded it to the county that "I have no problem letting the county decide this."

After the vote, she told me: "I’m completely disinterested in this issue, and the county needs to solve it or this issue is going to keep coming up year after year after year."

At this point though, standing on the other side of the county vote, Madigan said: "As far as I'm concerned the county has spoken.""

She said she doesn't know if Mathiesen will come to the City Council before he makes his way to a conversation with State Liquor Authority representatives, which he said is his next step, but as far as she's concerned "It's done."

I wish I could say I wouldn't have to write about last call again, but it seems clear I'm going to have to for the rest of the year as the issue moves through the Board of Supervisors and then to the State Liquor Authority.

Interesting vote Tuesday night. Read the story (and watch a video of two opposing viewpoints) here.

One particularly interesting aspect was Michele Madigan's political move in essentially not taking a stance. "I'm in favor of moving this to the county to decide," she said.

In fact, she cited my article... well, the first sentence of my article which reads as follows:
"The City Council is slated to vote Tuesday night on changing last call at local bars to 3 a.m," which she denounced as wrong.

"We're not voting on changing last call here," she said. "That's not what we're doing here."

She clearly didn't read sentence # 2 which stated, and I quote:

"After the City Council vote, the measure would need to go to the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors for approval. If approved there, it would still need to go to the New York State Liquor Authority Board for approval."

She said she did not want to tell the county to make the change county wide, but (maybe didn't read) the resolution she voted to endorse said:

"WHEREAS, this City Council recognizes that its partner, the County of Saratoga Board of Supervisors, has the sole authority to enact a measure to constrain the adverse effects on the public and City employees tasked with protecting the public associated with the on-premises sale of alcoholic beverages, that measure being the county-wide change in the time of last call from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m."

Below is the full resolution, if anyone out there is interested in reading it. While Madigan did not want to take a stand on last call issues, she did, since she voted to approve the below resolution:

WHEREAS, the Saratoga Springs City Council has great appreciation for the historic
and contemporary resort nature of Saratoga Springs as a destination for rest, relaxation,
nightlife, and entertainment, and

WHEREAS, this City Council has a responsibility to protect the public health, safety and
welfare from adverse effects associated with the on-premises sale of alcoholic
beverages at establishments licensed to sell such beverages within the City of Saratoga
Springs, and

WHEREAS, this City Council has taken numerous measures to constrain the adverse
effects on the public and City employees tasked with protecting the public associated
with the on-premises sale of alcoholic beverages at establishments licensed to sell such
beverages within the City of Saratoga Springs, and

WHEREAS, this City Council will continue to work with local proprietors to constrain the
adverse effects on the public and City employees tasked with protecting the public
associated with the on-premises sale of alcoholic beverages at establishments licensed
to sell such beverages within the City of Saratoga Springs, and;

WHEREAS, this City Council recognizes that its partner, the County of Saratoga
Springs Board of Supervisors, has the sole authority to exercise one measure to
constrain the adverse effects on the public and City employees tasked with protecting
the public associated with the on-premises sale of alcoholic beverages, that measure
being the county-wide change in the time of last call from 4:00 AM to 3:00 AM;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Saratoga Springs City Council asks
Saratoga County Board of Supervisors to support a law that will change the permitted
hours of on-premises sales of alcoholic beverages at retail in the City of Saratoga
Springs, prohibiting such sales on Sundays from 3:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon, and on any
other day from 3:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M.

ADOPTED:
AYES: 3 (I filled this in)

Update:
Madigan called me this evening to explain her stance on last call in the county and the vote she cast Tuesday night.

"I just want to see this issue solved once and for all," she said, adding she did not think it was "politics as usual" as my tag indicates.

"I’m completely disinterested in this issue, and the county needs to solve it or this issue is going to keep coming up year after year after year," she said.

"All I wanted to do was kick it to the county," she said. "If the county board of Supervisors wants to change last call, fine."

Madigan, though, said she thinks the issue was being rushed.

"I think the bar owners are working with the city hand-in-hand," she said. "I personally feel the city needs to give bar owners more time to see if their efforts pay off."

"This is a divisive issue. Somebody needs to look at it once and for all."

She said she was divided on the issue, but she was in favor of the county deciding. "Last night was a tough vote for me," she said.

It seems like the marathon City Council meetings as of late are the new normal. Last night went from 6:30 to at least 11 p.m. when I left (I got tired of the circular arguments about last call and was tired in general).

And maybe it was just the time, but disagreements started to devolve around 10 p.m. when a debate broke out over whether more trees should be added to the Woodlawn Parking Garage project.

Recently, Sustainable Saratoga which is conducting the tree survey in the city, sent a letter to the City Council requesting the city put more trees in that project.

Michele Madigan brought the issue to the table for a discussion. "It would make this project so much nicer," she said.

But that sparked debate.

Anthony "Skip" Scirocco (who was "Skippy" to John Franck throughout the meeting) said more trees would mean more shade which would mean more ice in the winter.

I couldn't make out most of the arguments over the din of city commissioners, but it seemed that Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen was saying it would harken back to the days of the tree-lined Saratoga streets, Franck seemed to be supporting Scirocco (he joked they would be campaigning together next election), I head Madigan say at one point "the perils of trees in winter time" possibly in jest, and Mayor Scott Johnson just wanted to move on. "We've discussed this enough," he said.

I don't know that there was ever any resolution to that.

Later in the meeting, the issue of last call was discussed. It was a re-hashing for the most part. Mathiesen defended his statement that the atmosphere downtown was "toxic" ("It is toxic") and said "Most of our citizens wold not recognize downtown Caroline Street late at night."

He's putting it up for a vote of the City Council May 15, but Madigan and Franck both want to wait until after the State Liquor Authority issues a formal opinion on whether changing last call has to be county-wide (the most recent SLA opinion is that it does).

"I think it makes a difference," Franck said.

Mathiesen said it doesn't matter for their purposes, since if the City Council approves changing the bar closing time it would mean going to the county either way.

As they debated whether the county's role mattered to the City Council, one of the county representatives stepped in and addressed the council.

"You don't worry about the county," Supervisor Joanne Yepsen said, pointing at Franck. Yepsen said she and Supervisor Matt Veitch would deal with the county.

"Wait," Franck shot back, holding his hand up to her, palm out like a traffic cop ordering a vehicle to stop. "Is it the whole county going to 3 a.m. or is it just us? It's not the same," he said. "Don't tell me not to worry about what I'm voting for."

"No, I'm saying vote for what the city wants and we'll worry about the county," she said, emphasizing her points with hand gestures.

Then, walking back to put the microphone back in its stand and holding her hands up in frustration as she walked back to her seat, she said: "The county will determine what happens at the county."

This is the stuff that's going to happen, though, if they keep everyone up so far past their bedtime. Next meeting doesn't appear to be much better, either. Starts at 6:30 with a public hearing and many of the same things on this week's agenda — Saratoga Citizen charter change, Housing Authority corrective action plan, last call — will come up again.

I'm bringing a pillow.

I did not cover the State of the City this week, but my colleague Michael Cignoli did and reported that the mayor is eying south South Broadway to potential re-development.

The mayor said the stretch of Route 9 between Adirondack Northway Exit 13 and Lincoln Avenue is “vastly underutilized, underdeveloped.”

That is something I will be following-up on in more detail later in the week, as it seems to be the tip of some unknown iceberg involving the city's comprehensive plan.

At the City Council's agenda meeting Monday morning, the mayor said that the city's comprehensive plan needs to be reevaluated. The word "scrapped" was used, but he said the city would be looking at how to proceed with it.

Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen said he doesn't think the mayor was talking about the overall plan, but rather the latest portion of it added in 2007.

He said a reevaluation of the entire Comprehensive Plan "would make all the sense in the world."

Mathiesen pointed out that the "Green-belt" that surrounds the city and is outlined in the 2001 Comprehensive Plan would be impacted, "which is why I want a Comprehensive Plan Committee to take a look at it."

In addition, the charter requires the city review its plan every five years, which means it is just about due.

So I'll be following up on that this week, but in the mean-time, here is Michele Madigan's response to the mayor's speech Sunday.


"The Mayor’s speech today contained many eloquent words urging cooperation and an end to partisanship. While he may not have completely heeded his own advice (subsequently deriding the “tax and spend mentality of the past”) I believe that we all are public servants with the best interests of the City of Saratoga Springs at heart.
I was encouraged by the tone and content of the Mayor’s remarks on casino gambling in New York. We must first and foremost be concerned with the impact this would have on the horse racing industry and must vigorously defend our quality of life and our city finances from any deleterious impact of casino gambling in our backyard. I was also very pleased to hear the Mayor demand both an increase in our share of the VLT revenues generated by our racino and a guarantee from Albany that we will receive those funds each and every year.
VLT aid is a revenue source that has become critical, albeit still difficult to rely upon, to this City. The Mayor stated – rightly – that “it would be financially irresponsible to rely on those funds to simply balance an annual operating budget”. Unfortunately, this is precisely what the previous Council did in the 2012 Budget that it devised and adopted. Despite uncertainty as to the existence or amount of any VLT revenue provided by Albany for this year, despite past experience with this issue, the previous Council relied on the VLT revenue to balance the 2012 Operating Budget. We must continue our vigilance with our Albany compatriots to retain and increase amounts to offset our significant expenses as host City. We must continue to look for ways to most effectively utilize VLT revenue.
The Mayor’s remarks on the unappropriated unreserved fund balance also require clarification. The Mayor stated that this fund balance increased by $4.2M in 2010. In fact, the fund balance grew by roughly $1.35M from 2009, a substantial difference that we must understand and be aware of in order to accurately plan and budget for the future of the City. Moreover, as Finance has discussed with the Mayor, we are not yet in a position to state that an increase in the fund balance was achieved in 2011. While an increase would be welcome, the City’s 2011 books do not close until the end of February and this number will not be finalized for several weeks. Good planning dictates that we use solid, accurate data to make important statements about the City’s finances.
The current administration has just closed its first month of duty with a truly remarkable set of projects and much progress to show for it. I look forward to the State of the City 2013 and I have confidence that it will resound with the success of this year.
Thank you,
Michele Madigan
Commissioner of Finance"

Mayor Scott Johnson later found some areas he wanted to respond to regarding Madigan's response.
"No one is using the VLT funds to balance the 2012 budget," he said. Johnson pointed out that $1 million of the $1.5 million was placed into a reserve account as a rainy-day fund.
He also took issue with her statement regarding his statement in 2010 that the "fund balance increased by $4.2M in 2010. In fact, the fund balance grew by roughly $1.35M from 2009, a substantial difference," she said.
"The point was that the amount at the end of 2010 would be $4.2 million," Johnson said.
In addition, he said he was a little confused at the beginning for why Madigan had drafted the response in the first place.
"I don't recall anyone ever writing a response to the State of the City address," he said.

"It seems very blatantly political -- it's the last City Council meeting and the contracts would not be renewed until after the next election," said Finance Commissioner-elect Michele Madigan leaving the City Council meeting Tuesday night.

She had just watched four contracts with law firms and one contract with the city's human resource company, Pinnacle Human Resources, LLC. extended to two-year contracts, something sources in City Hall said is unprecedented.

Accounts Commissioner John Franck spoke out on the city council about just that.

"We've never done this as far as I can remember," he said.

"I think they are good services, but this is bad government" Franck said of the contracts with the HR company as well as the law firms of Harris Beach which handles labor and collective bargaining and Fitzgerald, Morris, Baker and Firth PC which is currently litigating lawsuits on charter challenge and civil service. "I don't think these contracts should go more than a year," Franck said.

He was the sole council member to vote no on all of the contracts except the contract to continue litigating the appeal of the Saratoga Citizen petition, which Kenneth Ivins Jr. also voted against.

Mayor Scott Johnson said the rationale behind extending the contracts is that they locked in the price for the next two years and could avoid any cost increase (something Franck said hasn't happened since 2006), but Madigan saw a different motivation.

"It appears that the rationale behind these amendments may be to solidify them until after the next election so that the incoming council members will have no say in them," she said in a prepared statement she read to the council during public comment.

Franck said that if the City Council were going to award extended contracts to the law firms and Pinnacle, they should put out requests for proposals. "It doesn't make sense to me, I don't see the prices going up dramatically," he said, adding he would expect even better prices if the city put out a request for bids.

It was the last council meeting for two of the men around the table Tuesday. Madigan will replace Finance Commissioner Ivins and Christian Mathiesen will replace Public Safety Commissioner Richard Wirth in less than two weeks and the remaining members offered their praise and farewells to their two departing comrades.

Franck said Wirth has "always been a gentleman who looked past party lines," and he thanked him for his "tireless service" running the city's largest department seven days a week, something Franck knew he did because he frequently saw Wirth coming and going from City Hall on the weekends while he hung out at Compton's.

He said Ivins was dealt a tough hand over the last few fiscal years but said "in your four year period you have brought us back."

Scirocco thanked the both of them as well, though made eye-contact with Ivins (whom he has publicly disagreed with on frequent occasions) when he said "You both in your heart made the right decisions I'm sure."

Johnson commended them for their community service and "dedication to our city."

"Those of us who serve in these capacities know it is no easy chore to undertake," he said. And while he hoped they would continue to be involved in city politics and service, he had one parting lighthearted(?) request:

"Don't come to public comment please."

To drive that point home, here's Madigan's comments to the council in full:
I see that this evening's agenda includes discussions and votes on the Pinnacle Human Resources contract and the Harris Beach contracts. It is my understanding that the current Pinnacle HR contract runs until May 2012 and the amendment seems to merely extend the contract to December 2013. The Harris Beach contracts are also being amended tonight to extend from December 2012 to December 2013. All of these contracts are being amended until after the next election. Absent a pressing need to amend these contracts, it seems premature to even discuss these tonight. Again, a new council will be seated in 12 days, and there are 5 months remaining in the current Pinnacle HR contract and a full 12 months remaining in the Harris Beach contracts. It appears that the rationale behind these amendments may be to solidify them until after the next election so that the incoming council members will have no say in them.
While I have briefly reviewed the specifics of the proposed amendments, and must wait to find out more in tonight’s discussion and possible vote, I must point out the possibility that a majority of the new council may not agree with the wishes of the majority of the current council on such important matters. If this is the case, what will it cost the city to once again change, amend or terminate these contracts? I would respectfully request, in the interests of good governance, fiscal prudence, and transparency, that this council postpone discussion of these items until the next meeting, when the new council will be seated.
Of particular concern to me is the contract being amended that relates to Human Resources. Local governments are facing unprecedented challenges; whether we are addressing fiscal challenges, environmental issues, public safety, or a crisis, having the right people in the right jobs will pay off for our city. It is not clear to me, especially since I have been unable to review the contract in question, that outsourcing Human Resources – in violation of the City Charter - is in the best interest of our city. Since this is such an important issue, I believe it is unreasonable for the current council to take any action on this contract, thereby encumbering the new council which will be seated in 12 short days. We can take this matter up in just a few weeks, and I humbly ask you to allow us to do so.
Thank you,
Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance-elect

The combination of skateboarders and the city budget at last night's (Oct. 4) city council meeting was somewhat surreal. But I guess it makes sense, because by the end of Ivins' budget presentation I was as tired as if I had dug out the skate bowl myself.

It was long, mostly dry (as these things often are) and I should have left breadcrumbs through it because by the end I was pretty lost.

From what I gleaned, the city is better off than it was a year ago. Through some financial gymnastics (a term I got from DA James Murphy to describe white collar crime -- though I'm not implying anything by using it here) Ivins and Christine Gillmett-Brown explained how the tax cap doesn't mean 2 percent for Saratoga Springs, but actually means 4.8 percent.

All you need to know is:

(Courtesy of the New York State Office of the Comptroller. For a better view, click it.)

Regardless, the tax rate is only proposed to raise about .54 percent, on average. District by district that could vary slightly, but for the most part it means that the $6.07 per $1,000 of property owned tax rate won't be changing.

Of course, as has been pointed out in the comments of the story and in a press release from finance commissioner candidate Michele Madigan, the comprehensive budget itself wasn't presented, only a synopsis of it, something she said violates the charter.

"Those of us who attended the Council Meeting last night were expecting
the Commissioner to fulfill the duties of his office and lead a presentation on our city’s finances and his proposed 2012 budget," Madigan said in a statement released today. "His failure to submit the Proposed 2012 Comprehensive Budget last night, as required by the Charter, further illustrates that he is not fit for the position he holds and should not be reelected.”

Her release also includes the various components that are required to be in the comprehensive budget.

I will point out, though, that the charter only requires that the commissioner submit the budget to the city council at the first October meeting, not present the full budget at the meeting.

It is on file in the Accounts Department for anyone's reading pleasure (or lack thereof). And I keep being assured it should be online as early as tonight.

Also at the meeting, Saratoga Citizen organizer Pat Kane took advantage of the public comment, which first he lambasted for its brevity. Each member of the public is only allotted two minutes (something that is rarely enforced but always hanging over commenters heads). "I think it's a shame a citizen can only get two minutes in front of you people," he told the council, going on to say its "embarrassing."

Then he challenged the city council to pass the budget before election day. "You have the legal capability to approve the 2012 budget before then," he said, adding "shenanigans" can happen when budgets and elections mix. "There will always be a period of time where if you wait you could have more numbers," he said, undercutting Ivins' primary reason for advocating against that strategy.

Later, Ivins' responded during his presentation. "That is just not good financial planning," he said.

Finally, Kane also reminded the city council that thousands of Saratogians filled out a petition for the opportunity to vote on charter change.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Finance Commissioner Kenneth Ivins will debut the city’s 2012 comprehensive budget at the City Council meeting tonight. Ahead of that, Ivins released some of the preliminary details of the budget—including the proposed tax increase of .54 percent at a kind of Preview Presser (You read that term here first folks).
“It’s essentially one-half of 1 percent property tax increase and my goal is by the end of November we can get the number even lower,” Ivins said, explaining as the year comes to a close, more solid numbers for revenues in the city will come in. “The further you get into the year the better numbers you get for preparing a budget.”
He also distributed a sheet showing the dollar-amount tax increase for homes valued at $200,000, 300,000 and $400,000 (see below, and please excuse the foolish dashes, Blogger isn't cooperating with me).

Home Value===== 2011=====2011==== Increase
$200,000--------$1,212.80----$1,221.41----$8.61
$300,000--------$1,819.20----$1,832.12----$12.92
$400,000--------$2,425.60----$2,442.82----$17.22


Last year’s budget passed with a 4.45 percent tax increase, more than eight times the 20112 proposal.
Ivins attributed the change to better-than-expected sales tax revenues, Video Lottery Terminal funds coming into the city which had been absent for years and health insurance costs which increased, but not by as much as previous years.
One thing that is not driving up the cost was Ivins’ decision not to include the position of reservation coordinator in the budget—a position requested by Public Works Commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco that created debate and a split vote at the Sept. 20 city council meeting. (the comments in the story are not so split)
"I voted for creating the position," Ivins said. "I've voted to create a number of positions over the years I don't necessarily fund. I felt this was not the right time to fund that position," though he did not rule it out in the future.
Michele Madigan was also on-hand for Ivins' brief press conference. She asked him about the sale of the Lillians' lot on Broadway to contractor Sonny Bonacio and whether the money would be in the budget again. (It was in both 2010 and 2011, though not used).
Ivins said it would be as part of the Woodlawn Avenue parking garage-- since the revenue from the sale is being used for that project.
Madigan, too, said she was pleased to see the "pretty low rate. But I think we could do 0 percent, but I wouldn't want to see that at the cost of any layoffs."
Check in on The Saratogian for full coverage of tonight's presentation on the budget and further in-depth coverage in the days to come (We can't do it all tonight -- damn deadlines).

I think Michele Madigan got the message that I will post most everything I receive from candidates on this blog, because I have been inundated with regular faxes with the letterhead: "Michele Madigan for Finance; The Clear Choice."
Her latest was a response to Ken Ivins' response to one of her first.
“Just because I voted to create the positions does not mean I voted to fund the positions,” Ivins said Thursday in response to criticism from Madigan.
Ivins recently voted to create a position of "Reservation coordinator" to handle reservations for city owned property. The position pays $20.39 an hour plus benefits. (Also check out Managing Editor Barbara Lombardo's editorial on the position)
“Mr. Scirocco made a good argument for creating the position,” he said. adding that he has been meeting with the commissioners this week, going over requests for each department and “crunching the numbers.”
Ivins said that was on the table as a potential cut.
Madigan's latest letter, dated Oct. 3, includes Ivins' first statement above. She said she wants to be finance commissioner "because the incumbent cannot seem to communicate clearly with his fellow citizens and, frankly, does not seem to understand our city's finances. His response to me is a prime example. He votes for staffing changes, but then says he didn't vote to pay for them."
Ivins explained to me that he created the position but didn't know if it was in the 2012 budget yet. "I'm in negotiations with Mr. Scirocco," he said, something he does before every comprehensive budget comes out.
He gets a "Wish List" (Accounts Commissioner John Franck's words) from every commissioner, meets with each department head and then decides which ones the city can afford to pay for.
The comprehensive budget is due out at the Oct. 4 City Council meeting.
"I expect Ivins to propose a small property tax increase and will be looking very closely at his revenue and expense projections for the coming year. Hopefully they will bear some resemblance to reality but based on his past performance I'm not holding my breath," Madigan said and called for a debate.
We'll see how her predictions pan out at tomorrow's meeting.