For the second consecutive year, a SUNY Oswego MBA student returned from Beta Alpha Psi’s international Project Run With It business consulting competition as a member of a winning team.
SUNY Oswego pianist Rob Auler will team with two Syracuse Symphony Orchestra musicians in “Homage to the Piano Trio,” a Wednesday, Nov. 10, concert in SUNY Oswego’s Ke-Nekt Chamber Music Series.
The Princeton Review’s annual guide named the School of Business among “The Best 300 Business Schools: 2011 Edition.” It’s the seventh consecutive year the school has made the publication’s list of top graduate business schools.
Jacalyn Ryan, employee benefits specialist for the Oswego County Personnel Department, announced she will retire after 26 years of dedicated service to Oswego County government.
The Child Advocacy Center has recently moved to a new home at 301 Beech Street in Fulton.
Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I—Pulaski) honored David Branfield with a citation, congratulating him on his recent appointment to the New York State’s Interagency Coordinating Council for Service to Persons who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind or Hard of Hearing.
ARC of Oswego County has announced that its 5th Annual Gala fundraiser successfully raised a net of $7,669.85 to help support its programs and services to individuals with disabilities.
ARC OF OSWEGO COUNTY’S 5th ANNUAL GALA RAISES $7,670 FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES
FULTON, NY – ARC of Oswego County has announced that its 5th Annual Gala fundraiser successfully raised a net of $7,669.85 to help support its programs and services to individuals with disabilities. The Gala, held October 16 at Oasis at Thunder Island, offered attendees a full prime rib dinner, live music from The Cortini Brothers, a silent auction, raffles, and more. Returning as guest emcee for the evening was Tammy Palmer, television news anchor for YNN (Channel 10).
“We are thrilled at the great response this year,” said Stephanie Crowley, Director of Communications and Community Relations for ARC of Oswego County. “We not only set a new record for funds raised at this event, but we also signed up 24 new chapter members, which helps us better represent the needs of Oswego County when relevant issues are debated on the state level.”
ARC of Oswego County currently provides services to over 400 individuals annually who have intellectual or other developmental disabilities. Among the services provided is Early Intervention, in which trained professionals evaluate and assist children between birth and age 3, and offer education and support to families of children with disabilities. Early detection and support of developmental disabilities is critical, as children who receive assistance services before age 3 are shown to need only half of the services of the course of their lifetime as children whose disabilities are not identified until pre-school or later. Other services provided by ARC of Oswego County include Guardianship Assistance for families, Social-Recreation and Respite programs, Day Habilitation for senior citizens with disabilities, and Medicaid Service Coordination. All proceeds raised at the Gala will be used to support these core programs.
Sponsors for the 2010 Gala included YNN as Television Sponsor, Sunny 102 as Radio Sponsor, and The Valley News as Newspaper Sponsor; as well as sponsorships from The Bonadio Group, Americar Leasing, Key Bank, Lakeview Lanes, Alliance Bank, Fulton Savings Bank, Empower Federal Credit Union, Concord Insurance Agency, and Oswego Family Physicians. Dowd’s Flower Shop in Fulton donated the centerpieces, and many local businesses and individuals donated items or gift certificates for the silent auction and raffles.
ARC of Oswego County is a private, not-for-profit organization which has been providing programs and services to children and seniors with disabilities since 1955. Its mission is to be a leader in the field of developmental disabilities, committed to meeting the needs of individual growth, productivity, and independence through education, advocacy, and increased community acceptance and participation. Its sister agency, Oswego Industries, Inc., provides services to adults with disabilities: together creating a comprehensive support system for Oswego County residents with disabilities.
We’ve all heard a lot of discussion about the high property taxes in New York State and the Governor’s proposal to cap the local tax levy. Many state lawmakers have also voiced their support for a local property tax cap.
NYS Needs to Cut Unfunded Mandates Before Capping Property Taxes
By Barry Leemann
Chairman, Oswego County Legislature
We’ve all heard a lot of discussion about the high property taxes in New York State and the Governor’s proposal to cap the local tax levy. Many state lawmakers have also voiced their support for a local property tax cap.
A tax cap sounds like a good idea. But a better idea is to cut the costs that cause the high taxes in the first place! Just nine of the dozens of State mandates will cost the County $45.9 million in 2011 – that’s more than the entire property tax levy (123%). If the State would reform its mandate system, there would be no need for an artificial tax cap.
For decades we have been talking about the problem of unfunded state mandates, how they affect the cost of local government, and how they are passed on to the taxpayers. The Governor’s proposal to cap local taxes may sound enticing, but in reality it is just another example of the dysfunctional bureaucracy in Albany abdicating its responsibility.
Since 2004, despite the recession and increasingly expensive State mandates, and without the benefit of a state-imposed property tax cap, your Oswego County Legislature has managed to stabilize and reduce the county’s generic tax rate from $9.20 to $7.16 per $1,000 of assessed value. The proposed 2011 budget reduces the tax levy and the tax rate even further. This was accomplished through responsible financial budgetary actions and conservative policies adopted by the County Legislature – in spite of mandates by the Governor and the State Legislature.
Make no mistake… in order to stabilize and reduce taxes in the face of increasingly expensive State mandates, it’s the local services we all want (law enforcement, highway maintenance, economic development, health, etc.) and our savings and reserves that end up being cut back.
The proposed local property tax cap does nothing to reduce or eliminate the current State mandates. Furthermore, if State mandates cause a tax levy to increase over the cap, the proposal forces the local government to override the cap with a two-thirds majority vote. This proposal unfairly shifts the blame for tax increases to local elected officials when the tax increases are actually caused by the State.
Earlier this summer the Oswego County Legislature unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution urging New York State to significantly cut unfunded mandates before imposing a cap on local property taxes. Since then, several other county boards across the state and the New York State Association of Counties have adopted similar resolutions.
We should all agree that a valid property tax cap is needed and that tax relief is essential for all taxpayers. New York State’s Governor and Legislature need to take responsibility for the problems that have been created, provide a property tax cap that is more than smoke and mirrors, and not make meaningless political gestures that in effect shift the blame to local governments and shift the burden to local property owners.
Barbara J. Spedding, 67; of Fulton died at her home Thursday after a long illness.
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