https://www.lancasterbee.com/article...cher-position/
Hopefully, the Lancaster Bee will publish a correction that names Tom Fowler Jr. as the Town Attorney (not Robert), and attributing Councilmember Robert Leary, not Fowler for changes in the preliminary budget – as is clearly shown in the video of the Town Board meeting.
Why such ink was spent on a $10,000 budget increase in a $39 million budget is enigmatic. Why Supervisor Ruffino was given the opportunity to appear like a fiscally responsible guru over $10,000 when his lacking oversite on the construction of the new shelter cost taxpayers $150,000.
Why no ink on why questions asked the public hearing on the budget went unanswered – not only from the Budget administrator or Supervisor, but bord members as well.
Why is the question on how the federal stimulus money was spent, if at all, or used in this budget goes unanswered. That stimulus money is taxpayer money. Sad that we are always promised openness, transparency, and credibility at campaign time, but too often it is not delivered.
Supervisor Ruffino likes to compare dog control budgets and staffing with other towns, never comparing quality of services or safety provided to the town residences, and dog control staffing as well.
Considering dog control budget, does the department receive any of the licensing fee revenues to offset its budget bottom line?
How much revenue has the town lost in court revenues from lack of prosecutorial follow up in appearance violation tickets?
How much revenue has the town lost in not performing a dog census and getting dogs registered and licensed – an act that ensures dogs are vaccinated against rabbi’s and not a threat to public safety? Public safety is #1, is it not Supervisor Ruffino?
Much ado about nothing!
Yawn!
What have I done now to deserve your ire?
Is this Breezy the County Democratic Party operative lackey, or the protective family member writing to defend Ronny Boy? Is that it? As I see no emojis I have an indication which one it is.
Regardless, either are nameless, gutless, gutter-snipe individuals with nothing much to say, today’s quintessential cancel culture trolls. A waste of time engaging!
I noticed on the "Budget correction sheet' on the town website, there is no mention of an increase in healthcare benefits cost to the taxpayers.
Shouldn't there be?
Georgia L Schlager
Outside of Dispatch, all other employee union contracts are in negotiations, now at impasse! Contracts include health benefits.
Do you ever wonder where the money is allocated in the budget to pay for those contracts once they are settled?
Is the money coming from unused federal stimulus funds? What has been spent and what remains of those funds? No one says anything. Crickets.
The drive for competent leadership starts with the attitude that you get the most with the least…justifications to increase manpower does not happen by playing musical chairs with jobs and budget lines…Where is the justification for such a move? Look at past performance…how can one honestly try to make a third full time position in a job that maybe needs 50 full time hours per week to function adequately…I see no foresight or planning to justify such an increase in manpower!!!
As promised to individuals who contacted Lancaster Bee Editor Jim Sinner on the error report of a Town of Lancaster Board meeting held on October 17th.
Correction
October 27, 2022
In the Thursday, Oct. 20, edition of the Lancaster Bee and Depew Bee, Town of Lancaster Councilmember Robert Leary was mistakenly identified as Town Attorney Thomas Fowler in an article covering the Tuesday, Oct. 18, town board meeting.
This article was updated by the editor at 8:25 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, due to errors by the writer. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Lee, I was also curious as to what the town & village did with their Covid relief money. I’m even more curious once I found out Depew was trying to use it on bathrooms at a park that is hardly used. With all that money coming in & most services were shut down I see no reason why any tax increase was necessary. Also putting the blame solely on Ruffino is unjustified when the rest of the board takes their orders from Leary. If none of them spoke up when addressed aren’t they part of the problem as well?
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As I posted on another thread:
2023 Budget: Lancaster residents deserve to know
At Monday’s public hearing on the proposed 2023 budget, I was disappointed that none of the questions / comments I had addressed through a surrogate were answered. Supervisor Ruffino asked Director of Administration & Finance to come forward and take an open seat to answer the questions but allowed no opportunity for that to happen.
The address will be presented here, and a copy will be submitted to the town board for their consideration. Residents need to know how a budget with an increase in only 1.1% in tax rate, an increase of only $9 per hundred thousand dollars of property assessment was cobbled together. A budget where union contracts on wage and benefit increases are still in negotiations (and have hit an impasse); what the tax cap levy limit is and whether the town is only $7,800 below it; whether federal stimulus money was used to help lower the tax levy / rate.
If federal stimulus aid was used to cover the cost of the union contracts, is it a one-shot (one year), or life of the contract (4 years). Regardless, that cost will be absorbed by the Lancaster taxpayer in the future. Not looking a gift horse in the face, but how did we get to have such a fiscally responsible budget as Supervisor Ruffino claims he put together. Show me the work! Show me the money!
My questions went unanswered despite Supervisor Ruffino calling his Budget Director to come up and take an empty seat at the board’s forum – granting her an opportunity to answer the questions posed. She did but was not given an opportunity to respond as Ruffino moved on asking if anyone else wished to address the board.
Was I disappointed that Councilmembers Leary, Mazur or Dickman sat on their hands and allowed the questions to go unanswered? Indeed! It was the preliminary budget and residents deserved to hear a response to the questions – especially where the money was coming from to cover unsettled employee contracts, and whether Covid stimulus money was being used.
Well over a week ago I submitted a correspondence to the Town Board and copied the Budget Director requesting answers to the questions that went unanswered at the public hearing. I have yet to hear back from any board member or the Budget Director.
Like you, I hold them all accountable for holding a public hearing on the preliminary budget and not providing responses on where all the money is coming from to result in such a god budget; a budget that possibly could have been a zero-sum budget –and the impact on future budgets if Covid stimulus money was used.
The tentative budget was put together by Ruffino and Cuviello. Once the revisions were made by Leary and approved, it became the preliminary budget; the town’s budget, and its accountabilities lie with the entire Town Board – IMHO!
If I hear anything, I will pass it on. Up to now, crickets!
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