News & Opinion About Huletts Landing, N.Y.
Who Are The Most Influential People in Adirondack History?
John Warren at the Adirondack Almanack has a great idea for a list.
End of Stimulus Means Schools Must Cut
See how much funding may be lost by the Whitehall school with an end to stimulus funding in the Capitol Confidential blog.
Bolton to Get Started on Wastewater Upgrade
The Post Star reports on how technological advances can clean the environment without taking people’s property rights away.
click here.
USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), click here
One little known fact about the USS Ticonderoga is that it participated in the recovery of the Apollo 16 moon mission capsule in April 1972.
Gov. Paterson has for the second year in a row called for midyear cuts in state school aid that would cost the Whitehall School District $253,637 this year but help close a projected $3-billion state budget gap.
The School Superintendent’s are none too happy about this.
You can see the proposed cut for the Whitehall School District here on page 73 of the .pdf file (after the centerline / bottom of page).
Good luck with that.
Another building sits empty in Whitehall, as the school board stockpiles cash for no stated purpose.
What is a Property Tax Report Card?
Education Law section 1608(7) requires that each year the board of trustees shall prepare a property tax report card, pursuant to regulations of the Commissioner of Education. The law further requires school boards to approve the report card and to make it publicly available by transmitting it to local newspapers of general circulation, appending it to copies of the proposed budget made publicly available by law, making it available for distribution at the annual meeting, and otherwise disseminating it as required by the Commissioner.
A copy of the property tax report card prepared for the annual district meeting shall be submitted to the department by the end of the business day next following approval of the report by the trustee or board of trustees, but no later than twenty-four days prior to the statewide uniform voting day. The law requires that the State Education Department compile the data submitted by school districts and make it publicly available at least 10 days prior to the statewide uniform voting day.
Caveats are in order in interpreting these data. These data are self-reported by the school districts that hold a budget vote.
Ever heard of this? Ever see a copy of this? Neither had I, but when I read this, I tracked down the Property Tax Report Card for the Whitehall School District.
Here is the pertinent information.
A couple of points to note.
1.) While there was no increase in the budget or the tax levy this year, enrollment dropped by 35 students or 3.89% from 2008/09 to 2009/10.
2.) The undesignated fund balance of $590,036 for 2008-2009 was 4.32% of the budget. This was higher than the 4.0% allowed by law.
3.) The reserved fund balance grew from $2,443,109 from 2008/09 to $2,461,856 in 2009/10.
4.) There is an undesignated fund balance of $416,524 or 3.05% for the 2009/10 budget. In other words, the Board has over-budgeted and overcharged this amount and has not allocated it for anything. It just sits there until they can think of a reason to spend it.
The Governor in his deficit reduction plan of 10/23/09 notices the amount of reserves school districts are holding. “Did you know that 95 percent of school districts have reported undesignated reserves in excess of their proposed DRP reduction?”
The Whitehall school board should be ashamed by the statistics they have put forward. While houses sit for sale and businesses close, they are stockpiling money for no stated purpose. As enrollment drops, they don’t cut taxes accordingly. Sounds like a great way to kill a town.
Crown Point Bridge Closed
The Crown Point Bridge was closed last week by the state Department of Transportation. This is a major artery between Ticonderoga and Vermont. Here is the Governor’s state of emergency with a phone number to call for updates. The Post Star talks about how its closing could impact Whitehall. The Press Republican has a picture of the bridge.
Rachael Ray’s Menu Goes Public
The NY Post had a piece about Lake George’s own Rachael Ray. It seems that she’s just created a menu for the city’s public schools.
Public Pension Sign Up’s Surge
The Times Union reports that public pension sign up’s are surging. More bad news for the taxpayer.
Whitehall Gym Expenditure Passes
The Whitehall Times reports on the vote to spend tax dollars on a school with plummeting enrollment. One little-reported fact in this whole story is that the roof being replaced was installed in 1991, which means it lasted only 18 years. Most roofs should last a minimum of 25 years. Oh what the heck, it’s only a couple of hundred thousand.
Washington County Sales Tax Revenue Falls
Some bad news here. The Post Star tells us that Washington County sales tax revenue is down.
Unreleased Jimi Hendrix Music Coming Soon
I don’t want to finish this post on a down note, so here’s good news from Beat Crave if you’re a Jimi Hendrix’s music lover.
Click on the image to see it in full scale.
This is an old postcard of the Whitehall canal from my brother, Al’s extensive personal collection of Huletts and local memorabilia. It is probably from the 1920’s to the 1940’s.
The metal cross that adorned Our Lady of Angel’s Church in Whitehall, has been repaired and now overlooks Our Lady of Angel’s cemetery.
Previously, I had linked to this Post Star story which told about local parishioners salvaging and repairing the cross which sat atop Our Lady of Angel’s Church in Whitehall. In the picture that ran with that story, you can see the cross sitting on top of the church as it was being demolished.
I am happy to report that the cross was re-dedicated on August 22nd and now overlooks Our Lady of Angel’s cemetery.
More local property will go on the market soon because people can’t afford their school tax bills. Out of control spending by the school board is causing property owners to sell their parcels.
If you are a property owner in Huletts, you just recently received your school tax bill for 2009-2010. I had two calls this week from people who have decided to put their homes up for sale because they can no longer afford the school taxes. One person told me; “I just can’t pay my school taxes. I have to sell.” I will continue to post pictures of businesses that have closed and cease to exist in Whitehall. The school board’s continued policy of overcharging, putting the funds in reserve accounts and spending on capital improvements, while enrollment is plummeting is a complete outrage. 
Whitehall’s steep decline is a testament to this flawed tax and spend policy.
What can be done?
1.) Have committed tax-cutters run for the school board and tell the school board members how you feel when you receive your tax bill. Ask questions. Why isn’t spending tied to enrollment? Why are businesses closing and for-sale signs appearing everywhere? You can be sure the board hears from the education establishment when setting the budget. They should hear from the taxpayers also. Here is the board of education that sets the budget. Only one person comes from Dresden.
2.) Understand the taxing policies of the school district. Know how the equalization rate effects our school taxes. What is this? By law, equalization rates are used to apportion taxes in taxing jurisdictions that cross municipal boundaries. These taxing jurisdictions are usually school districts.
The tax levy for the Whitehall school district is spread over the five towns it serves. Whitehall, Dresden and parts of Granville, Hampton and Fort Ann make up the district.
In a perfect world, all would pay the same tax rate based on their property being assessed at market value. However, because individual towns decide when their property will be reassessed, some towns are assessed at 100% of market value while others are not. NY state thus sets an “equalization rate” to apportion taxes equally among towns with different methods of calculating their assessment rolls.
The total tax levy for the district this year is $4,829,164.
This is where it gets a bit complicated and we need to put our thinking caps on.
Dresden has a low equalization rate of 45.53 % because we have not done a reassessment for a long time. So while the Dresden tax roll shows that Dresden has $129,001,445 in taxable property, NY State after applying the equalization rate calculates that the total assessed value of Dresden property is $283,332,846. Dresden thus pays $2,713,201 of the tax levy or 56.1% of the Whitehall school budget.
Whitehall’s equalization rate is 100% because they reassessed the town recently and went to 100% valuation. Their taxable property is carried at $196,081,028 and they pay $1,875,903 of the tax levy or 38.8% of the Whitehall school budget.
Hampton also has an equalization rate of 100% but their total assed value for the property within the district is only $23,410,183. Thus they only pay $223,724 or 4.6% of the Whitehall school budget.
Fort Ann has an equalization rate of 100% but little property served by the school distinct. Assessed property is $2,166,122 for a tax levy share of $20,724 or 0.4% of the Whitehall school budget.
Granville has an equalization rate of 77.51 % but has relatively little property within the district. The taxable assessed value of their property is $678,200 so Granville pays only $8,379 of the tax levy or 0.1% of the Whitehall school budget.
Should Dresden reassess and go to 100% of full value bringing our equalization rate in line with Whitehall, Fort Ann & Hampton? Only if you believe the town-wide assessment is too high and your assessed value is too high. How can you figure this out?
On your tax bill there is a column marked “Taxable Value or Units”, take that number and divide it by .4553 (Dresden’s equalization rate) and that is what NY state considers the full or fair market value of your property.
Taxable Value or Units on Tax Bill / .4553 = what NY says your property is worth.
If you think that this value is higher than what you would sell your property for, you would probably want your property to be reassessed.
If you think that this value is lower than what you would sell for, you probably don’t want your property to be reassessed.
I am not advocating for or against reassessment at this time but I want people to understand the issues involved. Because Whitehall is a town in significant decline and Dresden is not, this imbalance will most likely continue. We need to consider strategies that will work to lower taxes for all.
If the Town of Dresden was to reassess and the new town-wide total came in at an amount above the adjusted total of $283,332,846 that NY state says our property is worth (as adjusted by the equalization rate) we would pay an even higher share of the Whitehall school tax budget.
If the Town of Dresden was to reassess and the new town-wide total came in at an amount less than the adjusted total of $283,332,846 that NY state says our property is worth (as adjusted by the equalization rate) we would pay a lower percentage.
At its core, this issue is one of overspending by the Whitehall school board, the assessed value of property is only a way of spreading the taxes around.
I’d like everyone to try this calculation and give me your feedback. The bottom line is that in return for paying 58.1% of the school budget, Dresden gets very little in return. When you have one town paying this large a share with practically no representation, and a school board hell bent on destroying their own community through poor tax and spend policies, you have the situation we are all in today.
Sadly more people will end up selling because of the short-sighted policies of the Whitehall school district. That is the real tragedy.
Man Wanted for Murder Arrested in Whitehall
The Post Star reports on an arrest made this week in Whitehall.
Triathlon Scheduled for October
The Adirondack Almanack reports on the Rogers Rangers Challenge triathlon scheduled for Saturday, October 3rd, in the area.
Study Shows Men Lose Their Mind Talking to Pretty Women
There is now proof! Beautiful women have an effect on men. Read about it in the Telegraph.
Now Becoming the Weak State: Business Must Now Pay Tax to Collect Sales Tax
Forget the empire state, we’ve become the tax state! This Times Union piece illustrates what NY has become.
Just a quick note that the Whitehall transfer station will be closed on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. If you were planning on bringing trash over on Saturday, you’ll have to wait until the following Wednesday.
Ravens Lose Adam Terry for Season
I’m sorry to report that the Baltimore Ravens have lost offensive lineman and local standout, Adam Terry, for the season. Adam was gracious enough to allow me to interview him while the Ravens were making their playoff run last year. His interview is one of the most read posts on the Huletts Current to date. Hope you get better soon Adam.
Broadband Internet Sought for Adirondacks
This article in the Times Union describes the effort to bring high-speed Internet to the Adirondacks, where 70% of the population has no connectivity. While Huletts has been fortunate in this regard, I feel bad for small towns where there is no Internet or cell phone coverage. Without these, there’s no real hope for growth.
Residents Plan to Restore Cross
The Post Star has a heartwarming story about the cross that sat on top of Our Lady of Angel’s in Whitehall.
Another building sits idle and “for sale” in Whitehall because of bad tax and spend policies put in place by the school board.
The Whitehall School Board has set the date of September 25th for a special election to decide on proposed renovations to the high school gymnasium with a cost not to exceed $525,000.
Along with this vote the board added another vote to purchase a pair of vehicles that would allow the school to spend no more than $120,000.
Instead of voting to return these excess funds back to the taxpayers in the form of lower taxes, this excess from last year will be spent on projects in a school district with falling enrollment.
From now on, every story I do about the school district will be accompanied by a picture of a building or house for sale in Whitehall. I drove around last week and have never seen so much property for sale. The school board’s tax and spend policies are now killing Whitehall itself.
The powers that be might be thinking that they’re getting away with this but I hope no school board member intends to sell their house anytime soon. If you go down almost any street in Whitehall, multiple houses are for sale. It’s no longer businesses that are fleeing – now it’s people also.
What’s the school district going to do with a new gym and a lot of school buses when no one is left?