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"It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones." Machiavelli
Albany EconomyBy DIA, Section News
I don't want this to turn into an economics blog but since politics is all about money, we should be talking about these issues.
In Albany County, for example, sale tax revenues fell 7.4 percent in the last quarter.Here is what we know about sales tax revenues from the Albany County Budget overview. As mentioned previously, the County relies on sales tax revenues to fund revenues, and sales tax revenues serve as an important economic indicator. At the end of September, Albany Countyfs sales tax collections were 4.8 percent higher than the same period for 2007. While this is a bright spot for Albany County government, the growth in sales tax revenues is not a reflection of a vibrant local economy. Rather, in recent months inflation has reached levels not witnessed in nearly two decades. As such, Albany County residents are forced to spend more on food, gasoline, clothing, and other essential goods. In essence, inflation is a regressive tax on consumption, meaning it imposes a greater burden on the poor than the wealthy.Just a few months ago this was a "bright spot" for Albany County. I think the county budget people might want to revise this prediction. In summary, we anticipate that these changes will result in a modest increase in sales tax collections in 2009 relative to 2008 collections.A few months back I also warned about the looming crash in the hotel industry. Things have only gotten worse in that regard with 2009 expected to be the worst year for the hotel industry in decades. . Check out this bit from the County Budget. Two of the six percent of the Hotel/Motel tax, levied to support debt service payments for the Civic Center, is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2009. Assuming that the two percent is restored no later than mid]year, the 2009 estimated revenue is $6.1 million. We also propose drawing approximately $120,000 from reserves to fund debt service payments in 2009, rather than increasing the County tax levy. However, the annual debt service payments are approximately $3.8 million, and the reserve fund contains a scant $2.3 million. Given this, the County will face a substantial fiscal burden in future years if this tax is not restored.Guess who will be picking up the tab for the debt service on the Pepsi Civic Center? You. Are you up for a "substantial fiscal burden"? We need some new leaders to deal with these problems. Our current leaders have only managed through good times. And they screwed that up and got us into serious debt issues. They need to go. BUDGET NOTE: The Albany County Budget is so far superior to the Albany City Budget in clarity and as evidence of it's authors' intelligence that I want to be clear that I am not criticizing the analysis in the budget itself. Our next mayor should take note. Extra bonus points for referring to the reserve funds as "scant". PS. See how we need to restore the extra hotel tax just to pay the debt on the Times Union arena? That money was supposed to go to the money losing convention center but we need it for the money losing Times Union center. Work hard, your politicians need you to fund their debt service.
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All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 2005 The Management