As budget season approaches, the Cicero Town Board is entertaining a local law that would allow the board to exceed the state-mandated cap on the property tax increase. What began in 2012 as a 2 percent cap has shrunk to 0.73 percent.
The town board held a public hearing regarding the tax cap at its Sept. 8 meeting. A handful of residents spoke out against exceeding the tax cap.
Resident Mike Boyle said he had read of an Ogdensburg company that was thinking of moving its operations to Cicero, but the company decided against it because of the tax rate in the town.
“We would have had 60 more jobs here,” Boyle said. “I would urge the board not to pass any local law that would exceed the tax cap.”
Boyle asked “what’s the point” of having the tax cap if municipalities can pass a local law each year allowing them to exceed it. He suggested the board look into alternative revenue sources rather than increasing taxes.
“Do you have any suggestions for how we can do that, Mike?” Supervisor Jessica Zambrano asked.
“I can come in here and give you a whole list — not a problem,” Boyle said.
Zambrano explained that salaries and insurance costs are going up. She suggested that the state is trying to reduce the number of municipalities by decreasing the size of the tax cap each year.
Resident Tom Beaulieu also shared his opposition to exceeding the tax cap. Beaulieu quoted former President Ronald Reagan: “Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.”
“Our budget last year came in at just over $12 million,” Beaulieu said, adding that it was roughly a $500,000 increase over the previous year. The 2015 budget was actually a $346,378 increase over 2014.
“It doesn’t take a math genius to figure in another two years, we’ll add another million dollars to the tax burden,” Beaulieu said. “It’s not your money to spend.”
The public hearing remains open for citizens to share their thoughts. The Cicero Town Board next meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Appellate court hears case against Zambrano
The petition brought by Paul Becallo calling for Zambrano’s removal was heard by the Appellate Division of the Fourth Department of New York state Sept. 9.
Becallo, father of town board member Mike Becallo, filed the petition in February of 2015 in light of Zambrano’s relationship with then-town engineer Douglas Wickman. The two are now married. The town’s Board of Ethics found that some of Zambrano’s actions after starting the relationship constituted a conflict of interest, but no action was taken by the town board against her. Wickman’s company, C&S Engineers, no longer represents the town.
Zambrano’s lawyer, Lisa DiPoala Haber, told the five-justice panel the charges were trumped-up political nonsense.
“It’s a politically motivated petition in our view,” Haber said, according to an article in the New York Daily Record. “It’s a history of politics in the town of Cicero and disgruntled Republicans who do not like Ms. Zambrano in particular because of her party affiliation.”
The Appellate Division panel also consisted of Justices Joseph D. Valentino, Erin M. Peradotto and Edward D. Carni.
A decision could be issued as early as next month.
