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11/18/11   Board of Supervisor’s Prayer

Our Heavenly Fater, this past Weds, November 16, 2011 - New York Governor Cuomo has directed flags on state buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset in honor of Fort Drum Soldier Private First Class Theodore B. Rushing who died on Veteran’s Day November 11, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.  Veteran’s Day was celebrated last week and Father Denis Edward O’Brien of the United States Marine Corps. would have us remember that it was the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.  It was the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.  It was the Veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.  It was the Veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.  It is the Veteran, who salutes the flag, who served under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag.  We pray to you also for the day no one needs to serve in any military to maintain world peace.     Amen

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12/16/11 Board of Supervisor’s Christmas Prayer

Our Heavenly Father, the Holiday Season is upon us.   But what is the Holiday Season? It is not some politically correct secular holiday where we gather around the Festivus Pole made famous by the Jerry Sienfeld comedy TV show.  But rather it is the December 21st celebration of the Jewish Holiday Hannukah and the December 25th celebration of the christian holiday Christmas. Both of these holidays are historically significant religious celebrations.  Hannukah celebrates the miracle of how 1 night’s worth of lamp oil lasted for 8 days and is symbolized by the Menorah.  Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ after the miracle of the immaculate conception and is most often symbolized by the Christmas Tree.  In 1893 the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously declared that we are a Christian Nation, where Christians are free to pray for peace in Jesus name, so let us do that in all humility, with confidence to Almighty God our everlasting Father and greet each other with Happy Hannukah or Merry Christmas.    Amen 

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Board of Supervisor’s Prayer 1/20/12

Our Heavenly Father, in this new year, every day is a special day and a testament to your miracles.  However, some view each day as a hardship and they pray to just get thru it.  Their burdens can be crushing and they often loose sight of your divine grace and wonderous creations.  Our job as Legislators of the County should be geared towards easing the burdens of our citizens, one way or another.  By doing so, perhaps we can help them to catch their breath instead of a sigh, and at least see a little bit of specialness in each day.  For example, I doubt if anyone in this room knows that today is National Butter Crunch Toffee day, but it is. There are also many citizens of this County that do not know that today we will work to ease their burdens and spend their tax dollars wisely, but we will try.  I am sure that today’s sunrise was greeted by many a cancer survivor as the most special sunrise they ever saw, that is of course until they see their very next one and revel in its beauty.  So let us not fall under the spell of pessimism, but instead proclaim that today is special and that our glass is half full instead of half empty as we give thanks to you God, for all of our blessings.    Amen.

NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF TAX ROLL AND WARRANT

TAKE NOTICE, that I, Denise L. Petteys, the undersigned Collector of Taxes for the Town of Hartford, County of Washington, State of New York, have duly received the tax roll and warrant for the collection of the 2012 Town and County taxes and I will attend at the Hartford Town Clerk’s Office, 165 County Route 23, Hartford, New York 12838, from December 27, 2011 to the end of the collection period, except Sundays and holidays, Tuesday through Friday 8a.m.to 3p.m. and Saturday, 8a.m. to 10a.m., for the purpose of receiving the taxes listed on said roll.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that taxes may be paid on or before the 31^st of January without penalty or interest.  On all taxes received after such date there shall be added interest of one (1) percent if paid on or before the 29th day of February and an additional two (2) percent if paid on or before the 31^st day of March, after which the unpaid taxes will be returned to the County Treasurer of the County of Washington in April 2012, pursuant to the provisions of law.

The failure of the property owner to receive a tax bill shall not in any way affect the validity of the taxes, of penalties or relieve the owner of tax obligation.

Denise Petteys, RMC

Town Clerk/Collector

Publish:  December 28, 2011 &

January 4, 2012

You may have noticed that my Postings have declined dramatically the last 6 months. That is because 99.9% of all the comments I get back are junk spam. Some do not even make grammatical sense and makes me wonder if they are a computer written substitution for a human.

I just deleted 104 Spam comments to this blog. There were 104 comments waiting to be reviewed and every single one of them was spam.

Hopefully real constituents read these posts even if they do not choose to comment., but a real comment from a real human every once in awhile, even if it is negative would be nice.  

Dana

                By this point all taxpayers should have received the 2012 Town and County Tax bill showing the three separate tax levies listed for County, Town, and Fire Protection.

                The Levy is the amount of money to be collected through Real Property taxes.  When you pay your taxes, it is divided and dispersed to three separate entities. These entities are; County, Town, and Hartford Volunteer Fire Co.

This letter will address the taxes that you pay towards the Town only. 

Last year the Town Tax Levy was decreased by 15% from the year before.  This year’s Town Tax Levy has increased by 0.7% which is well below the new 2% Tax Cap.  All in all, we are still down 14.3% from the levy of 2010. 

It is my drive to make the 2010 Town Tax Levy the highest Town taxes that you will have paid for many years into the future.  My goal is to be fiscally conservative and remain below that 2010 amount for as long as we can.  The 2010 Town Tax Levy was $885,025.  This year’s 2012 Town Tax Levy is $757,458 which is $127,567 less than the amount of Town Taxes collected in 2010.  In fact, if you refer to the reverse side of this page, you will see that the 2012 Town Tax Levy is very close to the 2008 Town Tax Levy.  

This year’s Town Budget saw a 9% increase in the Health Care Insurance provided to the Town’s full time employees, an 18% mandated increase into the NYS Retirement fund, and a 100% increase in the fee that the Town pays into the Worker’s Compensation Pool Fund to cover injuries to Town Workers.  Even with all of these increases, we were able to keep the increase in Town Taxes to just 0.7%.

One change in this year’s budget is that the Town has created three separate bank accounts for; Vehicle Replacement Fund, Building Capital Improvement Fund, and Museum/Civil War Enlistment Center Capital Improvement Fund.  By making these separate dedicated accounts, money put into them will be harder to sweep up and spend elsewhere.  This is like a savings account for specific items and will allow the money to accumulate incrementally each budget year so that next time the town needs to replace a snowplow truck or make an improvement to the building we will not have to borrow the entire amount. The Vehicle Replacement Fund so far has $35,000 in it, the Building Capital Improvement Fund has $5,000, and the Museum Fund has $15,500.

The money placed into the Museum Enlistment Center account will allow the Hartford Historical Society to leverage that money and qualify for grants to help preserve the last remaining Civil War Enlistment Center in New York State.  The Town of Hartford owns the property and buildings of the Museum/Enlistment Center while the Hartford Historical Society acts as Stewards of the property.  Not only does the Hartford Historical Society act as Stewards of the property but they also fundraise and spend their own money to help maintain the Town’s property which is much appreciated by the Town.   

The Town of Hartford Government will work hard this year to keep spending down.  The worse thing to see in the Town is the increasing amount of vacant homes where the owners had to just walk away because they could no longer afford to live in the Town, County or State.  It is important that your Town Government work to keep expenses down and your Town tax burden as low as possible.

Regards,  Dana Haff - Town of Hartford Supervisor

Updated Agriculture & Farmland Protection Plan

On Sept. 16, 2011 the Washington County Board of Supervisors adopted the following resolution. I would have prefered something a little more iron clad but it is at least a move in the right direction.

Resolution #213:  Title: To declare intent to not renew permit 5-5338-0004/00004 for construction and operation of a landfill on County owned property in the Town of Hartford.                                                                                                                                                                                          

WHEREAS, Washington County had a DEC permit # 5-5338-0004/00004 for the “construction and operation of a 147 ton/day solid waste management facility (landfill)” subject to certain conditions which expired January 1, 2011, and                                                                      

WHEREAS, the Washington County Board of Supervisors has discussed the desirability of constructing and operating a landfill on this site in light of the developments in the solid waste marketplace and the impending expiration of the Adirondack Resource Recovery facility, and

WHEREAS, it appears imprudent at this time, in light of the disposal options available in the area for the County to construct and operate a solid waste management facility; now therefore be it                                                                                                                                                            

RESOLVED, that the Washington County Board of Supervisors hereby indicates its intent to abandon pursuit of renewal of a permit for operation of a solid waste management facility on County owned land in the Town of Hartford.

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Here is the speech that I gave at the War Monument in the center of Main Street:

“Memorial Day is the time for Americans to reconnect with their history and core values by honoring those brave American Service members who gave their lives in battle for the ideals we cherish.

More than a million American service members died in the wars and conflicts this nation fought since the first Colonial soldiers took up arms in 1775 to fight for our independence.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Fort Sumpter and the start of the Civil War.

We should be proud of the fact that Hartford is the only town in New York that has managed to keep and preserve its historic Civil War Enlistment center.

This center is the last one standing in all of New York State. This small building is where brave Hartford men volunteered and enlisted in the war effort before marching over the mountains thru Hebron to catch the army train in Salem.

This Civil War Enlistment Center is maintained by the Hartford Historical Society. It is located just up the street next to the museum and is open today for visitors and donations.

America would be a much different place today if our rights and freedoms were not supported and defended by the valor of American blood and sacrifice.

Thank You”

The three businesses this year will be; Lulu’s Family Diner on Route 40, As Time Goes By Country Home Decor Gift Shop on County Route 23 Main Street, and Cria-tions Alpaca Farm on the corner of Shine Hill Rd and North Rd.

This scavenger hunt is designed to get the riders off their bikes to check out local businesses instead of just roaring thru town.