When You Want the Facts, Go to the Source

My friend and former NCN colleague Andy Bazzo is fond of saying there is no Republican or Democratic way to collect garbage. I agree. Delivery of local government services, whether garbage removal or public safety, building inspection or street repair, needs no party ideology to be effective. Where ideology tends to raise its unlovely head is in deciding how to pay for it all.

As so often in an election year, the Peekskill city manager’s proposed budget has been much on people’s minds. The mayor and council members being Democrats, they have been reflexively attacked on taxation and spending, as they were two years ago. I always have to laugh when a few folks try to scare everybody with city managers’ budget proposals. To do that, you have to ignore the simple fact that it’s a proposal, not the final budget. I’ve watched Peekskill’s budget process play out each year for two decades. It’s very nearly a law of nature: the final budget spends less money and sets lower taxes than the city manager’s proposal.

In the most recent independent auditor’s report, presented at the Common Council meeting of July 11, 2011, our city was awarded the highest grade possible.* The general fund ran a small surplus on the revenue side, and actual expenses ran lower than budgeted. In other words the city budget, crafted with an eye to prevailing economic conditions, was cautious and conservative on both revenue projections and predictions of expenses.

Do yourself a favor. Don’t take my word for it, or anyone else’s. If you’ve been frightened by generalizations about local government expenditures, or if you hear folks attacking the mayor’s fiscal policy, check out the auditor’s report.  That’s the one independent, expert voice in this discussion.

*Auditor’s report starts about two minutes into the video: http://peekskillcityny.iqm2.com/citizens/VideoMain.aspx?MeetingID=1031