Glens Falls: Building and codes changes
(Credit: Steve Thurston, 2022)
Diana Palmer, Glens Falls Ward 3
The Building and Codes committee is revising Glens Falls City Code Chapter 109, “Building Code Administration,” Ward 3 Councilor Diana Palmer told the common council at their meeting Nov. 8. The changes reflect state requirements, and she expects to bring a draft before the council as early as their next meeting, Nov. 22. The department is also considering a change in the fee schedule, a change that may be considered and amended annually..
The department has been implementing new software to track building and code activity, and Palmer said that soon the city council will be getting more documentation about ongoing code violations, closed violations, how many permits were issued and similar data, she said, “so that all of us know what’s going on in our wards.”
Glens Falls: Accardi steps off Planning Board
Peter Accardi, a member of the Glens Falls Planning Board for more than 20 years, has resigned, Mayor Bill Collins announced at the City Council meeting Tuesday, Nov. 8. Accardi remains on the city's water and sewer commission. Both are volunteer positions.
“I just wanted to take a moment and thank him for his service,” the mayor said. “It’s a tough committee doing very important work and no pay.”
Ethan Hall, the chair of the city’s Planning Board, appreciated the dedicated years of service that Accardi spent on the board.
“There is no one who put in as much time, including myself, as Peter does in his research of the City code and the projects that have come before our board,” Hall wrote in an email to FoothillsBusinessDaily.com. “Peter’s decision I’m sure did not come easily, and I personally respect his decision.”
Queensbury’s budget broke the tax cap, as the town knew it would, Strough says
The Queensbury town budget passed unanimously Monday Nov. 7 — read about it here — but it also had a tax increase above the state-allowed 2%.
“We knew we were going to break the tax cap,” Queensbury Town Supervisor John Strough said in an interview Monday Nov. 9. The town had to hold a public hearing and pass a resolution to exceed the tax cap after the public hearing.
“All that took place,” he said.
The tax cap would have held the increase in property taxes to 2% growth or the rate commensurate with inflation. The Queensbury levy grew by almost 60% this year.
A powerpoint presentation from the town is quick to show that Queensbury’s taxes include the highway department expenditures (some municipalities separate highways from the general fund), and that the Queensbury tax rate, at $0.821 per $1,000 of assessed value, is still below the rate of nearby governments.
As well, the tax rate increase over 11-years has averaged 2%, the presentation shows. The presentation shows a tax rate in 2012 of $0.658 per $1,000 of assessed value. Last year’s rate was $0.521. It rose this year to $0.821.
Salaries highlighted in the budget:
- Council/Board Persons, $18,000 (unchanged since 2014)
- Highway Superintendent, $86,000 (80,245)
- Town Clerk, $86,000 (79,385)
- Supervisor, $67,276 (unchanged since 2008)
- Deputy Supervisor, $3,246 (unchanged)
- Town Judges, $58,588 (55,798)