By Jody Dietch
Orange Democratic Town Committee
Jody Dietch
It seems May is turning into a political month. We have referendums for both the Amity (May 6) and Orange town (May 21) budgets, and, in this issue, Jim Zeoli’s announcement of running for reelection as first selectman. He was first elected in 2005 and has now served in that position for the past 20 years. That is an impressive amount of time. It’s funny, I often hear my Republican friends talking about term limits when it comes to our representatives in Congress, but remain mum on our elected officials here in Orange.
It may surprise you to learn that I don’t support term limits for anyone other than the president of the US. There is an alternative to term limits; it’s called voting. If you think the person needs to be replaced because they have been in a position too long, your option is to vote for someone else.
Granted, sometimes the alternative may not be someone you align with. Or maybe you are just comfortable with knowing what you have versus the unknown of what Orange could have. When it comes to local town elections, the candidates are your neighbors: people who are approachable, who may, in fact, live next door or down the street. I encourage you to get to know the candidates, from both parties, as they are announced over the coming months. Make sure the candidates of the party you regularly vote for in Orange align with your beliefs and ethics.
As I have done many times before, I attended the recent town budget public hearing. Have you ever been? Based on the turnout, I would say most have not. Maybe you watched it live on Orange Government Access Television or later on the OGAT YouTube channel. If you haven’t watched it, I suggest you take some time to watch it. Yes, much of it is Board of Finance Vice Chair Jim Leahy’s same old presentation he gives every year, just with the numbers updated. But listen to what is said.
I offer you some highlights of what jumped out to me. First, let me quote Leahy: “taxes will rise.” That was a bold statement coming from the finance board. For some strange reason, the vice chair conducts the meeting, not the chair. The budget being presented has a 2.71 percent increase. Fairly modest. But it also includes a tax assessment increase: we are absorbing 37.5 percent of the revaluation’s impact this year and another 37.5 percent of it next year. That phase-in of our increase in property values is in addition to the modest budget increase and will affect everyone’s taxes.
The revaluation used to be done every 10 years and is now completed every five years. The administration’s plan was to phase in the increase at 25 percent of the full impact each year over four years. However, the state told the first selectman that the town had already deferred the revaluation for two years and would have to perform its next revaluation in three years. Insisting that the state was wrong, he convinced the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance that we had another year and could phase-in the revaluation over four years and not three. Yet when this miscalculation by our town government was presented, Zeoli said “we got sucked into a deal.”
I’d say it’s a bad deal for taxpayers of Orange that our administration thought they could convince the state to do other than the statutes dictate.
One other topic jumped out at me during the meeting. Our own Republican tax collector chastised the Board of Finance and first selectman for not having the foresight to make a long-term plan for Orange and its aging buildings. The tax collector basically called town hall a dump. Even a resident commented on the musty smell when you enter. The first selectman’s answer was to put up some deodorizers or Damp Rid.
I’ve also read the Case Memorial Library’s recent meeting minutes: “There was a lengthy discussion on the many repairs needed at the library. The commission members felt that there should be a schedule of maintenance of all town buildings to ensure proper planning. Several members suggested speaking with the first selectman to discuss these repairs that have been left unattended for several months. [Eugene] Burshuliak suggested adding a line item in their budget for next year for building maintenance.”
The town owns the library, the elementary school buildings, High Plains Community Center, the police and fire stations, yet there is no long-range planning for our buildings, just as there wasn’t for our roads for years. Shouldn’t we expect/demand that? Don’t we all, or most of us, do preventative maintenance on our homes? Our homes are our investment. Our town buildings are an investment as well. Our tax dollars need to be used wisely and not to put out the fires of buildings in disrepair.
We have a budget surplus of about 25 percent, when industry standards call for 12-16 percent in order to achieve a AAA bond rating. But what good is the AAA bond rating if we don’t bond? Interest rates are a bit higher than we would like, but then why are we not using that 25 percent surplus our higher taxes are funding to do capital improvements and long-range planning?
The Board of Finance approved capital expenditures of $1,661,340. Of that, $190,940 is for our elementary schools. Another $527,100 is to pay off a bucket truck, the revaluation that is again coming due and for PTO and Roche Field renovations. The police are getting a well-deserved and needed $193,300 and paving our roads is a mere $750,000. These numbers seem like a drop in the bucket from what is truly needed in town.
Let’s hope whoever is seated in the first selectman’s chair come November understands the importance of long-range planning and takes the steps to ensure our buildings are not only safe but a beautiful representation of our town. Remember, when you vote in November, one of the most important aspects of the first selectman’s job is to present and manage the town budget.
Jody Dietch is the chair of the Orange Democratic Town Committee.