LLC
ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS
• HEATING FUEL • KEROSENE • LP GAS
PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron
206702
CROWN POINT, NEW YORK • (518) 597-3444 • WILL DEYO - FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED
Published By Denton Publications Inc.
DIRECTLY MAILED TO OVER
71,354
MYCAPTURE PHOTO GALLERIES
See photos from all the game action last weekend.
HOMES EVERY WEEK! Valley News
March 30, 2019
suncommunitynews.com
• EDITION •
E-L-W School Board reviews building use, budget numbers Projected 2.21 percent tax levy cap for newly merged district By Kim Dedam STA FF W RITER
WESTPORT | The ElizabethtownLewis-Westport School Board is forging ahead, evaluating building use plans and budget items and looking to hire a superintendent as the deadline for
the new district budget looms mid-April. With about three months to organize the district, executive session time took more than two hours last Monday, leading into a series of cost analyses presented by Interim District Superintendent Dr. Mark Davey, who is superintendent at Champlain Valley Educational Services (CVES). Among action items, the new school board voted to seek applications for district superintendent. They approved a move to allow Davey
and BOCES to oversee the hiring process as search consultant. Davey said this is a process CVES routinely oversees for area schools and that both Chazy Central and Saranac Central are also hiring superintendents. “We will announce the position and take applications and see what’s available,” School Board President Phil Mero said.
BUDGET DISCUSSION
As to the tax-levy cap allowance, district financial planners have estimated the cap would be 2.21 percent for E-L-W’s 2019-20 school year, Davey said. In preliminary budget figures, Davey projected a $14.97 million budget, up 1.77 percent from combined current school spending at Elizabethtown-Lewis plus Westport Central schools. The board has to adopt a spending plan by April 25, Davey said, providing a comprehensive overview, pending final tax cap and school aid runs assigned by the state. Health insurance premiums for E-L-W have to accommodate a 13.5 percent increase next school year, the interim super said. The district will continue to purchase health insurance through the larger BOCES consortium, as each Elizabethtown-Lewis Central School Superintendent district has in the past. Scott Osborne presented data related to number “That is a significant insurof students anticipated in the new Elizabethtownance increase,” Davey said, Lewis-Westport district in 2019-20 and how they indicating it was driven by might fit in the current buildings, divided into major medical expenses in elementary and middle/high School populations. the group last year. Photo by Kim Dedam » ELW update Cont. on pg. 2
Peregrine falcon on a cold morning in Elizabethtown, seen at the Sun Community News & Printing’s parking lot. Photo by Stuart Hutchins
County sales tax revenue keeps upward trend Latest figures show $138K increase in revenue to date By Elizabeth Izzo STA FF W RITER
ELIZABETHTOWN | Essex County’s sales tax collections have continued to increase in the first months of 2019. A report from the Treasurer’s Office last week showed that the county collected more than $4 million in the first two months of the year through its 4 percent sales tax. That’s roughly 3.5 percent, or $138,381, more than was collected at the same time last year. » Sales tax revenue Cont. on pg. 8
Hochul blasts tax act In local visit, Lt. Gov. urges support for permanent NYS property tax cap By Thom Randall STA FF W RITER
New Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Educator Jessica Spaulding Tyson was hired to help expand programs in Essex County. She arrived in February and is based here at the new CCE headquarters in Lewis. Photo by Kim Dedam
CCE celebrates successful move Ag science, education and growing 4-H programs among hands-on events planned By Kim Dedam STA FF W RITER
LEWIS | Staff at Essex County’s Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) are settled into new office space on Route 9N, just west of the hamlet here. “We’re in, we’re warm, dry and cozy,” 4-H Education Leader Linda Gillilland said during a recent visit. CCE’s new digs were created in the former Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting hall that Essex County purchased last fall for $165,000. The open space plan provides for cubicle
areas, the CCE web communication and phone lines and a few bright meeting areas. It’s quite different than the small but uninsulated offices CCE used in the historic 4-H building at the county fairgrounds. The space is brightly lit with windows all around and has a kitchen table area for small meetings on one side with larger meeting space on the other. The county’s Soil and Water Conservation District did not move into this location, but is in the Department of Public Works property down the road, awaiting an addition there.
OPEN HOUSE
Cornell Cooperative Extension provides vital education, farm outreach and science support for a myriad of regional agricultural concerns, including soils, fish and game, family food and health, 4-H and Adirondack Harvest programs. Master gardener volunteers also coordinate efforts through CCE. » CCE move Cont. on pg. 3
3609 Essex Road, Willsboro, NY • (518) 963-8612 • Fax: (518) 963-4583
MARCH 28 TH - APRIL 3RD
MEAT SPECIALS
PRODUCE Local Spinach..........................$4.29/clamshell Local Micro Greens ................$3.99/clamshell Lemons & Limes .............................. 2 for $1.00 Fresh Oranges .................................. 2 for $1.00
Provolone Cheese...............................$3.79 lb. Sandwich Pepperoni ..........................$5.99 lb. HOURS: MON. - FRI. 6AM-8PM • SAT. 7AM-8PM • SUN. 7AM-7PM
‘KICKED IN THE TEETH’
Hochul blasted the provision of the GOP’s 2017 tax act that limits federal income tax deductions to $10,000 for state and local taxes, noting that U.S. taxpayers had been protected from such double taxation since Abraham Lincoln was president. “One of foundations of federal income tax has been you don’t have double taxation, and they threw that premise out the window,” she said, calling the $10,000 deduction limit an “insane idea” that had the potential of curbing economic vitality and prompting New York businesses and taxpayers to flee the state. She said that under the Cuomo administration’s tenure, 48,000 new jobs had been created since 2011 in the capital region, and unemployment in the area had decreased from as high as 9 percent down to its present rate of 3.1 percent. “We were losing residents and businesses, and finally we stopped the hemorrhaging,” she said. “Unemployment is down, jobs are up, and we were making great progress — but all of a sudden to get kicked in the
teeth like this is really hard for us.” » Hochul Cont. on pg. 8 In a visit to Glens Falls March 19, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul urged Warren County officials and community leaders to support a permanent local property tax cap. In her presentation at Crandall Library, she blasted the GOP’s tax act, noting that its limit on state and local tax deductions on federal income tax returns is costing New Yorkers an additional $10 billion this year. Photo by Thom Randall
Boneless Chicken Thighs ...................................................................$1.99 lb. Hatfield Slab Bacon ..............................................................................$5.29 lb. Beef Chuck for Pot Roast ....................................................................$4.49 lb. Boneless Pork Chops ...........................................................................$2.19 lb. Bar-S-Bacon, 1 lb. pkg.........................................................................$4.49 lb.
FROM OUR DELI
GLENS FALLS | In the wake of the Trump administration’s federal tax reform act, which has increased federal taxes for New Yorkers collectively by $10 billion, capping local government spending is more important than ever to keep the state’s economy strong, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul told Warren County officials and community leaders last week. In a presentation at Glens Falls’ Crandall Library March 19, Hochul asked the audience to lobby their legislators to support Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s initiative to make the state’s local property tax cap permanent. “I’m here to solicit your support, as citizens, representatives, as businesses, labor unions and families, to demand that we adhere to this, because our constituents deserve no less,” she said. “In light of what’s happened with the additional tax burden we now have to pay to the federal government, now more than ever we have to find ways to reduce taxes, and the number one way is to make the property tax cap permanent.” She said that over six years, the state property
tax cap had saved state taxpayers a total of $25 billion — and in the capital region alone, $2 billion — or $2,200 per taxpayer over that time. She said that Cuomo “has drawn a line in the sand” on making the state tax cap permanent, and he would refuse to sign a state budget if it did not include such a mandate.
212811