I was at City Hall this morning for the unveiling of Elmira’s 2018 Budget, a proposal that includes a 17% increase in property taxes in order to address a $2,500,000 budget shortfall.
The fact that Elmira’s fiscal health is in dire condition should not surprise anyone who lives or works here, and the reasons that led to it are complex and multifaceted. However, Chemung County’s 2013 decision to redirect sales tax revenue from the City of Elmira and the other local municipalities and into its own coffers needs to be part of the discussion of how we got here and what we are going to do to remedy the situation. Creating a scenario where our City government is forced to increase taxes by 17% while the County government simultaneously boasts of its 13th year without a tax increase is no way to do business if we have any hope of recreating a strong, vibrant community that we are proud to call home.
It is interesting to note that from 2008 to 2013 Elmira’s average yearly property tax increase was 1.86%, and its economic picture improved drastically. Yet, in his overview of the 2013 Budget, Elmira City Manager John Burin warned of difficulties to come, stating that Elmira “has gone from near bankruptcy to a healthy and stable fiscal position. The City has enjoyed several upgrades to their bond rating and also established a fiscally prudent fund balance. However, the state tax cap legislation, static aid to municipalities, excessive employer pension contributions as well as legislation restricting a city’s ability to receive revenue for services rendered on a variety of not for profit organizations will overtime deplete reserves and bankrupt cities.”
Disregarding Burin’s warning, the Chemung County Legislature passed a financial restructuring plan in late 2013 that made Elmira’s obstacles much, much worse, contributing greatly to today’s announcement. Prior to enactment of the restructuring plan, Chemung County received 50% of all sales tax revenue collected throughout the county, and the municipalities received the other half. The restructuring plan changed that ratio drastically, resulting in a sales tax split for 2017 of more than 70% to the County and close to 10% to the City. For Elmira, the new ratio has resulted in revenue losses of roughly $2,500,000 since 2014 – a number that mirrors its entire budget shortfall.
This issue is not isolated to the City of Elmira. Facing economic stress, both the Village and Town of Horseheads levied taxes in 2017 for the first time in more than 30 years, the Village of Van Etten voted last week to dissolve, and most other local municipalities face critical decisions of how to continue to cope with dwindling resources.
Elmira is the center of this community, the County seat, and its future will determine the direction of our County for generations to come. Allowing Elmira to fail, or simply shaking off these issues as something the City needs to deal with on its own, is not an option. Previously a group called the “Council of Governments”, consisting of local elected officials from all levels of government across Chemung County, existed to deal with major issues like this. What happened to that group? Maybe it’s time to resurrect it so that all stakeholders have equal standing to voice their concerns and offer collective solutions. Could there be a better time to do this?
Christina Sonsire
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Loading...[…] affect of sales tax redistribution on the City of Elmira and other local municipalities, found here. Notably, the City of Elmira recently proposed a 17% tax increase, both the Village and Town of […]
Loading...[…] affect of sales tax redistribution on the City of Elmira and other local municipalities, found here. Notably, the City of Elmira recently proposed a 17% tax increase, both the Village and Town of […]
Loading...No serious attempt that is.!
Loading...Agree with all other comments.
In my younger days I have seen better organized riots!
I was wondering if the city of Elmira could be challenged in court over a 17 percent increase in taxes? At what point ones it becomes punitive? After all, there is serious attempt anywhere to cut spending.
Loading...Thanks so much for engaging the blog. I just realized I needed to approve the comments, which explains the delay in publishing them. I am going to try to change that feature now in order to encourage more discussion.
-Christina Sonsire
Loading...Good luck on your Website/Blog.
Loading...Thank you for your notes.
I agree. At the bottom of this is a culture of taking bad desicions without any significant analysis over and over again.
I just finished investing over a million in properties in this City and I can tell you I have never seen such poor management and lack of support from both city and county. Needless to say, it was the worst business desicion of my life. A similar investment done at the same in another upper NYS is doing very well. I hold no hope for the county. I did hope however that the City would be more welcoming to REAL investment, yet that has not been the case.
Again, I agree. I still live in Elmira but it is getting extremely difficult.
R N Sarli M.D. PHD.
Loading...Christina good for you. I would think that the 12 village/town offices need to be consolidated and many go away and utilize the shared service for roads etc. I think NY is the leader in towns and villages which include offices and paid personnel. I don’t see that here in Florida at all. I have not seen that set up in Georgia either. Not needed and will help capture funds being wasted. Things have to change and I agree with you Elmira will be gone. You are already dealing with a massive drug issues and gun violence in a small community. People will leave with this news mark my words they move out of the County. You will see more slum rental homes and apts and the crime rate and gun issues will get Worse. Mark my words. Those who are retired/elderly home owners cannot take this increase.
Lori Kain
Loading...Didn’t Dominion Transmission give the Town of Veteran and the county millions of tax dollars for allowing them to build that huge compression station in Sullivanville?
Loading...That’s what they told us in Sullivanville when they okayed 54,000 TONS of air borne particulates per year. Where is THAT money?
(I don’t know because I had to move away) Goodbye Chemung County!
According to the state comptrollers office in 2018 Chemung County will retain 65.6% of 3% of the County sales tax and keep all of the additional 1%.http://osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/salestax2015.pdf#search=%20Chemung%20county%20sales%20tax%20formula
Loading...Also, spinning off the library districts to the city and towns plus the community college assessments just added more expenses to their budgets. Talk about “unfunded mandates”
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