New York State's Office of Real Property Tax Services created a list of city property tax exemptions for fiscal year 2010. Here are a few: Ithaca at 62%, Oneonta at 51.4%, Cortland at 36%, Oswego at 36%, and Batavia at 25.7%. Included in these exemptions are federal, state, county, city, school, other municipal authorities, and non-profits such as hospitals and churches. See the listed cities at: http://www.tax.ny.gov/research/property/reports/exempt/10exrpt.htm#table4
Cortland's overall exemption will increase with the addition of a new multi-million dollar building on state campus.
Individual property owners and businesses not covered by PILOT agreements may pay more when these property tax exemptions increase. Talk to home owners in the Fall Creek area of Ithaca to understand the onerous effect of these taxes. Homes have been reassessed to higher values and taxes have increased over the years. Some homeowners are having serious financial trouble as a result.
Most homeowners, businesses and municipal authorities already recognize the problems associated with increasing property tax exemptions. The state legislature, however, largely ignores the issue.
There are several property tax associations in New York State. All lobby for reform. Each has a different solution or solutions. Some argue for spending restraints, others argue for tax equity. Please visit TaxNightmare at: http://taxnightmare.org/blog/, Nassau County Civic Association at: http://nassaucivic.com/default.htm, and Town of Potsdam Taxpayers Association at: http://www.toptaonline.org/.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
"I've Got The World On A String"
The Cortland Contrarian recently joined scientists and software experts of WeAreAllWastedLabs for an experiment to compress into full digital format the popular old song: I've Got the World on a String. The song was composed by Harold Arlen. The lyrics were written by Ted Koehler.
We wanted to test the delay and amplitude distortion of this digital format traveling over a long distance, including underwater cable. The delay would be measured in microseconds and the distortion would be measured in percentage. The experiment was funded by a grant from NASA.
We chose Shanghai, China, as our "bust back" server location and transmitted our digitally formatted lyrics 14,288 miles round trip from Cortland to Shanghai to Cortland.
These are the uncompressed lyrics we sent:
I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on a rainbow
Got that string around my finger
What a world, what a life - I'm in love
I've got a song that I sing
And I can make the rain go
Any time I move my finger
Lucky me, can't you see - I'm in love
Life's a wonderful thing
As long as I've got that string
I'd be a silly so-and-so
If I should ever let you go
I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on the rainbow
I've got that string around my finger
Oh, What a world, what a life - I'm in love
Life's a wonderful thing
As long as I hold the string
I'd be a crazy so-and-so
If I should ever let her go
I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on a rainbow
I got that string around my finger
What a world, what a life
Oh, what a world, what life
What a world, what life, cause I'm in love
(He's in love, he's in love)
I'm in love
(Got the world on a string)
And what a wonderful thing
(Alright)
When you get the world on a string
(Uh huh)
These are the uncompressed lyrics we received:
我已经得到了世界上的绳子
我坐在彩虹“
我的手指了一个字符串
什么样的世界，生活中，我在爱
我有我唱的一首歌
我可以让雨里去
任何时候，我移动我的手指
幸运的是，你看不到我恋爱了
生命是一个美丽的事
只要我认为字符串
我是一个愚蠢的某某
如果我曾经放手
（不走，不，你知道，你永远不能放手）
我已经得到了世界上的绳子
我坐在彩虹“
我的手指了字符串
什么世界，什么样的生活，我的爱
生命是一个美丽的事
只要我认为字符串
我是一个愚蠢的某某
如果我永远应该放手
我已经得到了世界上的绳子
我坐在彩虹“
我的手指了一个字符串
什么样的世界
啊，这是企业的生命
嘿，现在
我那么爱
We recorded zero microseconds of delay and zero percent amplitude distortion. We have forwarded our findings to NASA. The lyrics were supposed to return in English, exactly as sent.
We contacted an acquaintance who lives and works in Shanghai and requested assistance. The phone connection was poor. We heard her say, "Bu shi!"
This reply has us puzzled. Chinese bu shi means no in English. We don't know if she was speaking fluent Chinese, or garbled English.
We are presently advertising for a professional Chinese interpreter.
We wanted to test the delay and amplitude distortion of this digital format traveling over a long distance, including underwater cable. The delay would be measured in microseconds and the distortion would be measured in percentage. The experiment was funded by a grant from NASA.
We chose Shanghai, China, as our "bust back" server location and transmitted our digitally formatted lyrics 14,288 miles round trip from Cortland to Shanghai to Cortland.
These are the uncompressed lyrics we sent:
I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on a rainbow
Got that string around my finger
What a world, what a life - I'm in love
I've got a song that I sing
And I can make the rain go
Any time I move my finger
Lucky me, can't you see - I'm in love
Life's a wonderful thing
As long as I've got that string
I'd be a silly so-and-so
If I should ever let you go
I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on the rainbow
I've got that string around my finger
Oh, What a world, what a life - I'm in love
Life's a wonderful thing
As long as I hold the string
I'd be a crazy so-and-so
If I should ever let her go
I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on a rainbow
I got that string around my finger
What a world, what a life
Oh, what a world, what life
What a world, what life, cause I'm in love
(He's in love, he's in love)
I'm in love
(Got the world on a string)
And what a wonderful thing
(Alright)
When you get the world on a string
(Uh huh)
These are the uncompressed lyrics we received:
我已经得到了世界上的绳子
我坐在彩虹“
我的手指了一个字符串
什么样的世界，生活中，我在爱
我有我唱的一首歌
我可以让雨里去
任何时候，我移动我的手指
幸运的是，你看不到我恋爱了
生命是一个美丽的事
只要我认为字符串
我是一个愚蠢的某某
如果我曾经放手
（不走，不，你知道，你永远不能放手）
我已经得到了世界上的绳子
我坐在彩虹“
我的手指了字符串
什么世界，什么样的生活，我的爱
生命是一个美丽的事
只要我认为字符串
我是一个愚蠢的某某
如果我永远应该放手
我已经得到了世界上的绳子
我坐在彩虹“
我的手指了一个字符串
什么样的世界
啊，这是企业的生命
嘿，现在
我那么爱
We recorded zero microseconds of delay and zero percent amplitude distortion. We have forwarded our findings to NASA. The lyrics were supposed to return in English, exactly as sent.
We contacted an acquaintance who lives and works in Shanghai and requested assistance. The phone connection was poor. We heard her say, "Bu shi!"
This reply has us puzzled. Chinese bu shi means no in English. We don't know if she was speaking fluent Chinese, or garbled English.
We are presently advertising for a professional Chinese interpreter.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Former Mayor Susan Feiszli Comments On City Government
I am writing in response to recent articles in the Cortland Standard – one
regarding the purchase of tablets for elected City officials, the other relating
to the berm project at the Waterworks to alleviate flooding in the City.
Your article on 4/4/12 discussed newly purchased Motorola XY tablets for the mayor and common council in attempts to cut back on paper and mailing expenses. No such items were included in the 2012 budget as stated by city officials. The online City budget shows $500 allocated towards contractual expenses for the council. Data processing has only $14,000 for all City equipment, and administration and finance does not have a line for this expense. During my administration, council approval was necessary to transfer funds between accounts prior to purchase as required by state law. It would be nice to know from which line item this purchase came.
The purchase was not necessary to be in compliance with the state comptroller's audit as stated by City officials. The comptroller's report concentrated primarily on the need to consolidate data processing services to a centralized location so that individual departments discontinue the handling of their own payroll and procurement. Currently, there is no mechanism in place to assess or review payroll and expenditures prior to going out.
The amount of paper used for council packets and associated costs as quoted in the Cortland Standard was three times more that the actual amount used during my term. Supplements to the agenda that were too voluminous would be sent by email to the aldermen. I am not opposed to modernization of City functions, but I do not care for misleading information being presented to the public as justification.
The article on 4/6/2 that referenced the berm project was also inaccurate. It implied that grant funding was required in order to begin construction this summer. This project was extremely important to me as an alderperson and mayor – as it was for many of my constituents. Five years ago, common council bonded for the project based on estimates prepared at that time. Since then, the department of public works has increased that estimate so that it now exceeds the bonded $60,000. Last year the City applied for grants that were regrettably unsuccessful. To insure that this long overdue project would be completed this year, the necessary funding was included in my 2012 budget. The common council approved $349,000 to be placed in the contingency account with knowledge that a portion was to be used towards construction of the berm. It is discouraging that there was no mention of this fact and that the reader was led to believe that money was not available.
Sincerely,
Susan Feiszli
Editor's note: This letter was published in the Cortland Standard April 13, 2012.
Your article on 4/4/12 discussed newly purchased Motorola XY tablets for the mayor and common council in attempts to cut back on paper and mailing expenses. No such items were included in the 2012 budget as stated by city officials. The online City budget shows $500 allocated towards contractual expenses for the council. Data processing has only $14,000 for all City equipment, and administration and finance does not have a line for this expense. During my administration, council approval was necessary to transfer funds between accounts prior to purchase as required by state law. It would be nice to know from which line item this purchase came.
The purchase was not necessary to be in compliance with the state comptroller's audit as stated by City officials. The comptroller's report concentrated primarily on the need to consolidate data processing services to a centralized location so that individual departments discontinue the handling of their own payroll and procurement. Currently, there is no mechanism in place to assess or review payroll and expenditures prior to going out.
The amount of paper used for council packets and associated costs as quoted in the Cortland Standard was three times more that the actual amount used during my term. Supplements to the agenda that were too voluminous would be sent by email to the aldermen. I am not opposed to modernization of City functions, but I do not care for misleading information being presented to the public as justification.
The article on 4/6/2 that referenced the berm project was also inaccurate. It implied that grant funding was required in order to begin construction this summer. This project was extremely important to me as an alderperson and mayor – as it was for many of my constituents. Five years ago, common council bonded for the project based on estimates prepared at that time. Since then, the department of public works has increased that estimate so that it now exceeds the bonded $60,000. Last year the City applied for grants that were regrettably unsuccessful. To insure that this long overdue project would be completed this year, the necessary funding was included in my 2012 budget. The common council approved $349,000 to be placed in the contingency account with knowledge that a portion was to be used towards construction of the berm. It is discouraging that there was no mention of this fact and that the reader was led to believe that money was not available.
Sincerely,
Susan Feiszli
Editor's note: This letter was published in the Cortland Standard April 13, 2012.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Effective NY
The Cortland Contrarian recommends a New York State constitutional reform effort called Effective NY. It is a project of the New Roosevelt Foundation. Those who are interested in good government and reform of government should visit: www.effectiveny.org.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Sherwood's Photo Released
Today the Cortland County Sheriff''s department and City of Cortland police jointly released a photo of Sherwood and requested public assistance in locating him. He is wanted for assault and battery, false impersonation and destruction of public property.
Sherwood, a locally trained, English-speaking chimp, has been on the lam since last September, 2011, when he went on a rampage in the county office building, assaulted former legislature chairman Jack B. Nimble and later impersonated him by assuming the chairmanship of the Cortland County legislature.
Calling Sherwood a fugitive from justice, Sgt. Pepper of the Cortland police said:
"We suspect someone in Cortland is harboring this fugitive from justice. We have our eye on a former mayor of Cortland, and we consider him a person of interest. I had planned to retire this year. However, I will not retire until Sherwood is apprehended and brought to justice. If you see this fugitive, phone Animal Control Officer Chris Bestochi at 607-7523-437610. Sherwood has an unpredictable temperament. Don't get too close to him--he throws a wicked left hook."
Readers are directed to: Has Anyone Seen Sherwood? posted October 1, 2011. http://jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2011/10/has-anyone-seen-sherwood.html, and Reporter Interviews Cortland Contrarian Editor: http://jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2011/11/reporter-interviews-cortland.html
Quote of the day: "God created the chimpanzee because he was disappointed in man. Mark Twain didn't write that--I did." Sherwood
Sherwood, a locally trained, English-speaking chimp, has been on the lam since last September, 2011, when he went on a rampage in the county office building, assaulted former legislature chairman Jack B. Nimble and later impersonated him by assuming the chairmanship of the Cortland County legislature.
Calling Sherwood a fugitive from justice, Sgt. Pepper of the Cortland police said:
"We suspect someone in Cortland is harboring this fugitive from justice. We have our eye on a former mayor of Cortland, and we consider him a person of interest. I had planned to retire this year. However, I will not retire until Sherwood is apprehended and brought to justice. If you see this fugitive, phone Animal Control Officer Chris Bestochi at 607-7523-437610. Sherwood has an unpredictable temperament. Don't get too close to him--he throws a wicked left hook."
Readers are directed to: Has Anyone Seen Sherwood? posted October 1, 2011. http://jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2011/10/has-anyone-seen-sherwood.html, and Reporter Interviews Cortland Contrarian Editor: http://jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2011/11/reporter-interviews-cortland.html
Quote of the day: "God created the chimpanzee because he was disappointed in man. Mark Twain didn't write that--I did." Sherwood
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Brian Tobin's Beard
A worried young man with a beard
Said, "My God, it's just as I feared--
Falls off when I swim--I lose it,
As well as my cap and swimsuit!
When I grin they stay on,
Indeed, nothing is gone.
As your mayor, most fit,
I shall offer this writ:
I would rather grin than bare it."
Editor's note:
After reading this poor excuse for a poem, the sensitive mayor shaved and removed every trace of his hirsute appendage. We hope he grows it back soon. We would like to tweak it again.
Said, "My God, it's just as I feared--
Falls off when I swim--I lose it,
As well as my cap and swimsuit!
When I grin they stay on,
Indeed, nothing is gone.
As your mayor, most fit,
I shall offer this writ:
I would rather grin than bare it."
Editor's note:
After reading this poor excuse for a poem, the sensitive mayor shaved and removed every trace of his hirsute appendage. We hope he grows it back soon. We would like to tweak it again.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Squires Building
Before it burned down on April 11, 2006, The Clocktower building in Cortland was known as the Squires building. The Squires building was erected in 1883 by James Squires. It cost $40,000 to build, and it contained seven stores, eight offices and ten rental flats. It encompassed a portion of the old Eagle store, which was built in 1815 and was owned by Gen. Roswell Randall.
James Squires was born in Virgil on January 31, 1819. Neighbors and friends said that he was a merchant at birth. By age ten he was buying and selling and making a profit. He started his first business in Virgil, recovered from a business failure in 1843, then was appointed postmaster of Virgil and later he became superintendent of the Virgil school.
James Squires came to Cortland in 1853. He was engaged in a very profitable mercantile business at that time. He was elected president of the Bank of Cortland in 1869. He was one of the principal founders of the State Normal School at Cortland. He was treasurer of two railroads. He helped fund and erect the Baptist Church of Cortland, and was a prominent member of the church.
Mr. Squires built his personal residence on lot #44 at the corner of Prospect Terrace and Tompkins street in 1871. It was one of the finest homes in Cortland. By 1885, many improvements were made to his residence, including conservatories and piazzas.
James Squires was married three times. He married his first wife, Lucia Chamberlain, in 1843. They had four children. Lucia died in 1862. He married his second wife, Libbie Adelia Purinton, in 1865. They had three children. Libbie died in 1871. He married his third wife, Mary Elizabeth Lester, in 1873. They had two children [our primary reference is dated 1885.] Mary died in 1941.
James Squires died November 21, 1900. His obituary was published in the New York Times.
James Squires was born in Virgil on January 31, 1819. Neighbors and friends said that he was a merchant at birth. By age ten he was buying and selling and making a profit. He started his first business in Virgil, recovered from a business failure in 1843, then was appointed postmaster of Virgil and later he became superintendent of the Virgil school.
James Squires came to Cortland in 1853. He was engaged in a very profitable mercantile business at that time. He was elected president of the Bank of Cortland in 1869. He was one of the principal founders of the State Normal School at Cortland. He was treasurer of two railroads. He helped fund and erect the Baptist Church of Cortland, and was a prominent member of the church.
Mr. Squires built his personal residence on lot #44 at the corner of Prospect Terrace and Tompkins street in 1871. It was one of the finest homes in Cortland. By 1885, many improvements were made to his residence, including conservatories and piazzas.
James Squires was married three times. He married his first wife, Lucia Chamberlain, in 1843. They had four children. Lucia died in 1862. He married his second wife, Libbie Adelia Purinton, in 1865. They had three children. Libbie died in 1871. He married his third wife, Mary Elizabeth Lester, in 1873. They had two children [our primary reference is dated 1885.] Mary died in 1941.
James Squires died November 21, 1900. His obituary was published in the New York Times.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)