In the post below is the copy of the 2012 preliminary budget that has dated September 30 that is in accordance with  the 2% tax cap law. The preliminary budget that was presented on November 3, 2011 reflects a 17% tax increase which is equivalent to approximately $85 per year in a household.

At the November 3, 2011 meeting, Joe Kakish instructed that Mr. Martino make the necessary cuts to keep taxes at less than 2%. If you examine the document and the costs  from 2011 to 2012, you will notice that in almost every area, there have been cuts with the exception of several, mainly being the serial bonds that must be paid.

Where are there significant decreases?
1) The cost for snow removal personnel changed from
$334,556.35 to $$232,072.53. For those that have to drive to work in the snow, that means you'll be having to drive on roads that may not be plowed in a timely manner

2)fund for medical and hospital insurance decreased from $631,844.34 to $608,879.77

3) The police personnel was reduced from $1,285,237.39 to $880. 125.28, which means the force will be reduced by a few positions. Need a cop to show up at the car accident you just had? You'll be waiting for awhile.

4)The Town Clerk's office will be reduced by an employee, losing funds from $105, 894 to $73756.

5) Mortgage tax income is projected to decrease from $405,000 to $325,000. Apparently due to choice or circumstance, people are leaving town.

3) It is noted that the Roosevelt fire district, whose chairman is Yancy McArthur, that conducts their own budget and budget vote, has a tax that is passed to the voters of nearly $1 million dollars, which is the highest of all the fire districts. This amount is nearly as high as the Hyde Park Police Dept. which runs on a budget of approximately the same amount, except the police department has paid staff whereas the fire company consists of volunteers. It should also be notes that the police department runs on a 27/7 basis whereas the fire department responds to calls as needed. A call log was at one time available on each fire company website, but they have been removed. The budget information is located on the Roosevelt site is as follows:
http://www.rooseveltfiredistrict.com/newstraining.html
In accordance with new state laws pertaining to Fire District Operations the proposed 2012 budget of the Roosevelt Fire District is hereby provided for public information.

Proposed 2012 Budget

Personal Services                                   $38,000.00

Equipment                                              $83,000.00

Contractual & Other expenses               $453,712.00

Local Pension (Service Awards)            $125,000.00

Social Security                                       $2,907.00

VFBL Workers Compensation               $95,685.00

Supplemental Benefit Payments to
Disabled Firefighters                             $3,960.00

Redemption of Bonds                           $0.00

Transfer to Reserve Fund                    $175,000.00

The Contractual and other expenses category is rather vague.

This summary of the budget indicates that the costs to the town is primarily to salaries and if Joe Kakish is okay with giving his employees the pink slip, so be it, but it appears from the town board meetings and the new budget that Mr. Martino isn't.

 
pre·lim·i·nar·y  [pri-lim-uh-ner-ee] adjective, noun, plural -nar·ies. adjective 1. preceding and leading up to the main part, matter, or business; introductory; preparatory:

Sue Serino, bimbo apparent of the Town Board was still confused at exactly what the  budget workshop entailed. Before the  resolution vote to add  the introduction to the agenda was made, she questioned why the budget that was being adopted  had a 17% increase, as she believed that the budget was being voted on that day. Wasn't the budget process explained to her numerous times at previous board meetings? She also should have been aware of this fact by the resolution she voted in favor of on October 3rd and it was stressed that this budget was currently a 'work in progress' several times throughout the workshop meeting. Perhaps the reason she is clueless is because Ms. Serino refuses to meet with Mr. Martino and stated she will only receive information from him via e-mail. So in that statement, Ms. Serino is essentially telling the public she will be removing herself from the budget process because she is not willing to put aside her personal feelings and work on a professional basis with a co-worker.  In another comment, Ms. Serino accused Mr. Martino of paying Mr. Horan to perform research in reference to case law for reducing salaries. As Ms. Serino is married to a lawyer, she should know the town attorney is hired on a monthly retainer basis. The attorney gets one flat fee for any work he performs for the town. She also took particular attention to Walt Doyle's salary cut and no other salary cuts in the budget because she has been a friend and supporter of Walt Doyle.

In a confrontation involving Mr. Kakish, he suggested that Mr. Martino make the tax cuts to the budget alluding to his desire that town employees be laid off and services which include the police force and highway department be reduced. He  claims that Mr. Martino has been wasting the taxpayers money with some of the examples of town improvements that were reflected in the town budget. He is stating in effect the road repairs, the building of the police facility and improvements to the Town Hall, the building that he thinks he will be sitting in come January 1st is a waste of money. Included in this blog is a copy of the preliminary budget and it is questionable if Mr. Kakish is capable of reading and understanding it. It appears that Mr. Kakish does not possess critical thinking skills, especially since he waved the preliminary budget up in the air and referred to it as 'bogus.' Well Joe, it technically is bogus as it's a 'preliminary' budget. DUH.

 It should also be noted that Ms. Rohr is present at the meeting and is conducting herself in a professional manner. 

Do note that Mr. Kakish was unaware of how his property taxes were comprised at the October 24, 2011 Town Board meeting.
 Let's take a look at the tape.