It has to end! Instead it keeps growing. Just like Alissi not getting charged…they are all protecting each others backs.

They have stolen America and are selling it to the highest bidder!
Be afraid…be very afraid! But don’t hide…ACT!!!

This post has me worried. The fact that Ralph Esposito runs Greece and Gates is supposed to be one of Steve Minarik’s biggest secrets! Do you have a source on the inside?!?

Seriously, you’d better check the cider you’re drinking; I think its turned.

Giving Sales Tax funds to the Schools is like giving crack to an addict.

I think its time to start holding School officials accountable for the massive amounts of money they spend.

Giving money to the GOP run County Administration is like giving crack to deranged test chimp in a test lab.

I think it’s time to start holding Elected Officials accountable for the massive amounts of money they spend - at all levels of elected office.

Time will tell how this one plays out and who knew what and who “ultimately” ordered this ill-conceived plan.

My hope is the the ‘crooks’ end up in the cell next to Schwabb and Nicolo.

And don’t give the “innocent lambs” speech. Diraddo has already been named as the attorney who incorporated all of their illegal business endeavors.

It’s just the tip of a massive iceberg that has someones fingerprints all over it. Fortunately for the intelligent, those prints are easily identifiable.

But I don’t think there’s a legitimate defense of a iron-fisted money grab, which is what the FAIR plan was, in effect. That’s my main point here.

Yes. The County has a deficit and it will have to deal with it.

I just do not understand the “holy writ” treatment the sales tax sharing deal gets. It is a voluntary arrangement. The County never had to do it. Most Counties do not. It is probably time to revisit the set-up.

As I noted in my reply to Exile, I do not think my share of County tax revenue should be used to subsidize the choices taxpayers make in other school districts. I still believe that the County executive’s plan, properly shifted the burden of dealing with this deficit to the schools, as they have been the government entitys most responsible for spending increases in the past 5-10 years.

The real “elephant in the room” is that we are rapidly approaching the breaking point on taxes in New York. Gov. Paterson was the first person in Albany to use the “c” word (cut) regarding spending in my adult memory.

Many of you at RT have called the FAIR plan a “shell game”. If so, the reversal of the plan is just as much a shell game. No one in any school district or in the County Office building wants to raise taxes. But let’s face it; we have to raise taxes or cut spending.

After you.

I have previously expressed my views about school taxes. I have always supported the G-C budget and I am happy about the education my kids get there.

Consider, however, the recent examples of Gates, Greece, and Fairport schools. In the past few years, Gates has done a $65 million renovation, which included college level athletic facillities; Fairport has installed a multi-million dollar artificial turf field; and Greece built a $60 million TV studio. It’s fine for taxpayers in those districts to agree to spend their money on such projects. But what if you live in Brighton? You already spend a good dollar on school taxes and now your County Tax bill will have to go up because the County must subsidize those spending choices with your Sales Tax revenue.

I do not understand why that is deemed appropriate. I’d like to keep my County Taxes down. Let me worry about my School Tax bill.

As for your crack addict comparison, I think it’s unfair. This region has some of the very best high schools schools in the country. It adds a lot to the quality of living here. To me, the money is well spent.

One other thing: I don’t see how sending sales tax to the county instead of to the school districts would encourage more accountability overall. It seems to me that one of the main effects would be to make the county less accountable.