All is not Rosey in Maggie-land
Looks like Monroe County may have to raise property taxes-ghast! Things didn’t work out the way you planned, huh Maggie? Now the money for the intercept has to come from the county’s part of the sales tax income, not the school districts’ portion. The intercept money would come entirely from the county’s share (32% of all retained sales tax revenue per Morin/Ryan Agreement)
County Executive Maggie Brooks may have ruled out a property tax increase up to this point, but not all Republicans are. Dan Quatro is the majority leader in the county legislature.
“She has said that, and to her credit she hasn’t. But it’s one of the things we have to consider,” said Quatro. “We have to consider things like a property tax increase as much as we have to consider safety net charge backs to the city or other communities.”
Of course the Democratic Legislators have been given no information on what is being considered:
But Democrats in the city say the Brooks’ administration has shared no information with them about county finances. “I don’t have a clue,” said Paul Haney, (D) County Legislator representing a part of Rochester.
Haney said Democrats still haven’t been told how the 2007 budget year ended. Haney said Brooks and the Republicans got the county into this mess last September. “At 4:00 in the afternoon, they summon us to a meeting and it’s all done by 7:00. And that kind of closed shop, secret operation of government just in the long run doesn’t work. And that’s what’s coming back to bite them now.”
And the Republicans are blaming the Democrats (this is precious!):
Quatro faulted Democrats for not bringing anything to the table, and he accuses them of playing politics with this.
Hmmmm, what about that Sheriff Road Patrol thingy, pay for service? And how about that absorbing the Water Authority into the county thingy? I think that was the Democratic minority. Come-on Quatro! Do you think the citizens of Monroe county have that short a memory? It’s all coming back to bite you in the butt, isn’t it, Danny-boy?
Related posts:
- Ted O’Brien Makes the Case: Maggie Brooks’ and the Lockstep Legislature’s Tax intercept is Illegal
- What is my butt doing in all this hot water and what are you Democrats going to do to fix it??
- There’s a hole in your bucket, Dear Maggie, Dear Maggie
- D&C: Maggie, where’s the (Plan) B(eef)?
- Emerging themes in County Legislature Races. What’s missing?
Safety net charge back? That is going to be fun.
Democrats fault? I thought I read (maybe even right here at RT) that whatever Dem proposal are brought up at the County Leg are routinely ignored  unless they have some merit in which case the proposal is plagiarized by a Rethuglican, it become a Rethuglican bill, and then voted on.
But seriously, we have to provide rebuttals people who take an action and then blame people who take no action. It is the people who take the action that are responsible, period. I wish the media and our politicians would realize this. In fact, I thought it used to be the Rethuglicans who billed themselves as the party of “personal responsibility”. (Following Quatro’s logic, I could say a bank robbery was all Maggie’s fault because she didn’t send police officers to protect the bank before the robbery… and yet somehow I think it is the bank robbers who are at fault)
You did read that here. Of course they ignore the Dems. Their 2 point system in regards to the Dems is: 1) Ignore, 2) Lay Blame.
Any clue as to what a safety net charge back is?
i hate to put words in quatro’s mouth, but i believe that if an mcc charge back means charging municipalities for their enrolled residents, a safety net charge back means charging municipalities for their residents on some sort of public assistance. except in this case, the city takes the hit instead of the burbs.
[...] Maggie-how is that Plan B spelled? Is it T-A-X I-N-C-R-E-A-S-E [...]
Of course! That makes sense. Let’s charge the poorest of the poor.
Why would we do this, yet forget about the road patrol charge back? Oh, wait, it’s the Republican legislators, silly me! Maggie’s Mantra (now, repeat after me) “We do not raise taxes in the burbs”
exactly. but if you say it 3 times it comes true. and charging the poorest of the poor will balance the budget and stimulate the economy by paving the way for trickle down economics to work.
Politics, politics… they’re looking for leverage.
Safety Net’s a NYS program. It’s for people who are poor, but not poor enough to qualify for Federal benefits (TANF, etc) The state and the county split the cost of Safety Net.
The Monroe republicans tried to pull that Safety Net chargeback business when Doyle was exec, too. They’re going to say it’s not fair that suburbanites have to pay for welfare (they’ll call it “welfare” - conjuring Reagan’s images), when 90% of the recipients live in the City…
They won’t be able to do it w/o a suit (which they’d lose.) It would instantly bankrupt the City. But the threat may be enough to get them some leverage over Democrats in Albany. They’ll probably want the state to pick up a higher percentage of the cost.
It’s an EXTREMELY divisive way to get leverage, and shows the weakness of their position. Seems like everything they do these days is. They’ve learned from Rove, it seems.
What can I say. They know their base. To them, bitching about “lazy welfare recipients” and the city is like talking about the weather.
Wow, Itchy, thanks for that most comprehensive explanation of the Safety net charge back. How do you know these things??
Let’s remember that Maggie already raised taxes on the suburbs with the FAIR plan through the MCC chargeback tax, the increase in vehicle registration fees, and by allowing the tax levy to grow. Suburbanites are also forced to pay more for Medicaid now that she has removed the cap. The FAIR plan has not been eliminated, it has just been rendered ineffective by its necessity to comply with state law with regard to the revenue sharing agreement.
The ball is the Democrats court. The can either release a plan to solve the deficit and spend time advocating for it, or wait for the republicans to release one and spend time fighting the loosing battle to defeat it.
the democrats don’t get the ball in this game. all they can do is take a plan public. (and i think i recall they had one) but since they can’t introduce anything in the leg., unless the media puts it out there and citizens demand the repubs look at it, it is for nothing.
They can make their own ball if they have a plan they they all support and can go full-court press in the media & with mailers. If they all had their talking points together, it would get out there. I guess I blame them a little for not being louder.
I’ll take a stab at the “chargeback”…what that to me indicates is that any monies promised or given to the towns from the county for projects or programs could and will be withdrawn. This could include Nutrition Programs for seniors, drug discounts for seniors, daycare programs for infants and childrens - basically ANY monies given or promised for any county run programs or services can and will be reversed.
What’s really, really sad about Maggie’s management style, is the fact that it is reactionary. Reactionary management is usually a sign of an administration that has no true creative methods or knowledge on how to solve and resolve issues with leadership. Instead, they hack at the easiest methods to improve THEIR budget, with no concern or caring shown to the recipients of the programs they eliminate.
What you are seeing in ALL of this mess coming out of the illustrious county offices is the pitfall of electing an unemployed news anchor who had and continues to demonstrate - *has* no skills and is unqualified for her job.
Instead of surrounding herself with truly qualified individuals, the “lackey” approach to her hiring of all of the GOP cronies, who themselves are unqualified to perform their jobs, but are good at cashing their paychecks has come home to roost.
This should send up a MASSIVE red flare to any parent of a student or student themselves enrolled at MCC.
The only hope for producing future leaders who are qualified and competent to serve the best interests of the county, state and country is to make certain they receive a quality education.
When Brooks, Quatro and Minarik get through with MCC if allowed with the appointment of their political “hacks”, they will be receiving diplomas for having graduated “Grade 13″.
What creates such an oxymoron here is that the LACK of education and qualification is what is creating the devastating events in this county. It’s the GOP who could well afford a few classes in municipal management, mathematics and finance, as well as public relations and the law.
Has anyone figured out a method by which she can be removed from office? It’s our only hope.
you forgot 3) Arrest
There is no blame to be laid at the feet of the Democrats in the Legislature. This problem is bigger. This has become an issue of incompetence in leadership.
She is unqualified for the job - and we the people need to remove her from office for her malfeasant action.
You don’t let a 2 year old drive a car. Maggie Brooks is incompetent to the degree that it has become a serious threat to our security. She needs to go.
I agree with Itchy. The Dems have to develop a unified message - even prepare a media campaign - showing the series of failures which have resulted in damage to our institutions, and higher costs. COMIDA, FAIR, the Water Authority, the PD, MCC, etc.
And they have to run serious candidates - not just Morelle’s friends - for positions. They can’t sit around patting themselves on the back for getting Mike Green elected DA when he used to be a Repub, or for winning races they were going to win anyway, or races they didn’t help out with. What about one of those vying for Robach’s seat deciding to run for County Exec, and starting the ground game?