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Volume 6 • Issue 49 SaratogaPublishing.com
Budget Cuts Hit Home
DON’T LET
the Bed Bugs Bite
by Daniel Schechtman Saratoga TODAY SARATOGA COUNTY – With less than a week to go before the December 14 vote to finalize the $309.2 million Saratoga County 2012 Budget, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors has put all options on the table as they look to close an $8.1 million gap between revenue and expenditures. One option being considered: reduce or eliminate funding for many outside agencies promoting tourism, which in themselves bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the region.
• SEDC: - $130,000 • Saratoga Arts: - $7,500 • County Fair: - $18,000 • Brookside Museum: - $12,500 See Budget page 7
by Christina James Saratoga TODAY SARATOGA SPRINGS - A Stonequist Apartment resident claims the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority site is infested with bed bugs and that nothing is being done about it. The Saratoga Springs Housing Authority (SSHA) is a federally funded organization that is overseen by an executive director and a seven-member board
of commissioners, five of whom are appointed by the mayor and two who are residents of the housing authority. Aside from a recent visit by a code enforcement officer, little has been done to alleviate the residents’ discomfort. The reason for the delay in action? Local news reports point to a jurisdictional breakdown. Saratoga Springs City Mayor Scott Johnson said he was aware
An Early Christmas Gift Local Veteran Receives New Home in Time for Holidays by Michelle Read DeGarmo Saratoga TODAY SARATOGA – Having a place to call home is something many of us take for granted, but for one local family it’s a dream come true. Thanks to support from the first round of grants offered through the Saratoga County Manufactured Home Replacement Program, Suzanne, 39, and her 15-year-old
daughter are just days away from having a safe, warm place to call home. The program was piloted in 2011 through a partnership between the Saratoga County Rural Preservation Company (SCRPC) and the Town of Saratoga, combining grant monies from the Homes and Community Renewal, Community Development Block Grant and the Affordable Housing Corporation to
“We were shocked to find so many people living in unsafe conditions, and it’s a shame we don’t have adequate funding to help everyone in need.” A.C. Mazurek SCRPC Executive Director
See Bed Bugs page 8
Inside TODAY
Your
Home
pgs 16-25 Obituaries pg 5 Business pgs 14-15 Gift Guide pgs 9-12 Pulse pgs 28-31
See County page 6
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