(Credit: Courtesy Harper Collins, 2022)
Book jacket of Minita Sanghvi's novel Happy Endings.
DPW reports no major incidents
Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub told FoothillsBusinessDaily.com earlier today that there had been no major reported incidents during the snow storm thus far. He said that the city has seen "lots of downed trees and wires." Where power was off, National Grid was on-scene, he said.
The National Grid Power Outage Map shows about a dozen clusters of power outages in the greater Saratoga area, and the map reports 78 customers are affected. (Update: In the 20 minutes since posting, the number bumped up to 179.)
He says crews are continuing to work throughout the storm. The storm warning continues until tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. National Grid outage map.
Springs tax numbers continue post-pandemic climbs and records
From a press release: Saratoga Springs led the state in year-over-year growth of sales tax collection, with
a 14.6% increase in 2022, totaling $16,954,841.43.
The city’s increase mirrors New York State’s overall sales tax collection, which totaled $22.1 billion in calendar year 2022, up 12.7%, or $2.5 billion, from 2021, according to a report released by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
In 2021, of the cities that impose their own sales tax, Saratoga Springs had the strongest year-over-year increase, at 32.5%.
Saratoga Springs also collected $743,149 in occupancy tax, a 27% increase from 2021 and the city’s highest-ever, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 12%. The 2022 revenues exceed those of 2019, the year of the city’s second highest occupancy tax revenue, by $80,186.
Commissioner of Finance, Minita Sanghvi said, “This is the second year we’ve seen record breaking tax revenues for our city. This is very good momentum for our city and reflects all the work our administration is doing to attract visitors and make our city a popular tourist destination.”
Mayor Ron Kim agreed.
“These figures tell the story of the resilience of our community. Saratoga Springs continues to attract people because of the public and private investment in making the city a great place to live, work and play.”
Commissioner Sanghvi's novel wins accolade
From a press release Monday March 13: Springs Commissioner of Finance and novelist Minita Sanghvi has learned she is on the long list for the AutHer Awards for her book Happy Endings, considered to be India’s first lesbian romance novel. The book, published by Harper Collins in 2022, won a spot on the longlist for Best Debut Author.
“It was a happy surprise, Sanghvi said, “I’m not trained in literature. My undergraduate degree was in Accounting and I’m a business professor.” Sanghvi is a tenured professor at Skidmore College.
The AutHer Awards is a joint venture between JK Paper and Times of India, both based in New Delhi. AutHer Awards are created to celebrate of women authors who have added value and creativity to the literary space. The jury considered books by women published in India in the last year. Out of 2000 entries, they created long lists for best women authors in Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Literature, and Debut categories.
The AutHer Awards Shortlist will be announced during the week of March 13th and the winners will be announced in New Delhi on March 19, 2023.