Kingston Uptown Residents' Alliance (KURA)

NEWS

The bill that kills: Kingston residents increasingly hard-pressed to pay property taxes
March 04, 2010 - Kingston Times

KURA’s FIRST ANNIVERSARY

It is hard to believe that the Kingston Uptown Residents’ Alliance has been in existence for only one year. Much has been accomplished but an even greater task lies ahead in 2010 and the years ahead.

Our organization can only be effective if we have many dedicated members who are willing to participate actively. KURA has been very fortunate in that regard. Its volunteers have done research, established a mission, developed flyers, created our web site and communications, generated graphics for our presentations, cleaned our streets and hand delivered up to 1,500 flyers for each of our General Meetings, among other things. It takes a lot of volunteer effort to make an organization like KURA work.

KURA’s non-partisan, issues-oriented approach also proposes positive solutions. This is a time-consuming but effective approach. With your help KURA can expand the scope of its activities. We need many more results oriented people to continue our success.

2009 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Organization: A Mission statement evolved and an organization established. The membership is approaching 200.
• Four General Meetings: These meetings were held to inform residents regarding issues that effect their quality of life.

• Nuisance Abatements: KURA’s members were coached regarding how to factually report incidents regarding drug trafficking, vandalism, noise, garbage, etc. to the proper enforcement agencies.

  The results have been encouraging. There were 52 cases citywide which were identified as recurring nuisances. Fifty of these have been resolved. Two are progressing through the system. Don Ryan of the Sheriff’s office usually reports progress at each of our General Meetings.

• KURA Clean-up Day: KURA volunteers spent a weekend cleaning up trash and mowing parkways between the curb and the sidewalk. The roadway at the curb was weed-whacked, swept and blown clean. Also, the weeds between the blue stone sidewalks were removed and hedges trimmed with the owner’s permission.
• 2010 Budget Position and KURA Survey: KURA described the downward spiral Kingston has been in for at least five years. Basically, expenses have grown faster than revenues. The City has filled the shortfall by raising taxes. Kingston now pays the third highest in New York State north of New York City on a per capita basis. The only cities paying higher taxes were White Plains and Rye, both of which have per capita incomes that are multiples of the per capita income for Kingston residents. This increase in taxes has led to a reduction in population and a major exodus in business. This means that there are less and less businesses and residents to tax. This is a scenario that must be reversed in the short term.

KURA’s recommendation was to reduce expenses to levels the City can afford and start to reduce taxes to levels which are competitive. These views were presented to the Common Council and submitted in letter form to the Mayor and Common Council. The results of the KURA Member Survey were also communicated to the Mayor and Common Council. The results of this Survey appear on this web site. It was conducted by email and web site over a five day period and 51 of our members responded.

KURA‘s 2010 FOCUS

In 2009 KURA made recommendations regarding the 2010 budget based on the results of the Membership Survey mentioned earlier. The five highest priority budget remedies recommended by our members were:

• Dramatically reduce the use of consultants and take maximum advantage of free services available from the State and other organizations.
• Improve departmental efficiencies by reducing unnecessary and costly levels of management and supervision in all departments. Do not lay-off the employees that do the work.
• Reduce the overtime budgets and strictly control its use.
• Reduce the assessed value of properties to prevent the overpayment of County
  and School taxes.
• Negotiate with the unions to increase employee contributions to benefits and pensions. Make them comparable to other state-wide employees.

There are twelve additional priority recommendations which were presented in the Survey. Many of the suggestions were favorably received but KURA was informed that they were too late to be effective.

This year, one of our objectives will be to address the 2011 budget early in the year. Our emphasis will be on needed cost reductions and cutting taxes, both homestead and non-homestead. These efforts are critical to break Kingston’s downward spiral of lost businesses and residents and to attract new businesses and new residents.

KURA also will be conducting General Meetings regarding important issues, including how residents can reduce their taxes by appealing their assessed valuations. The feasibility of implementing or considering some of the actions suggested in the Survey will also be the subjects of other General Meetings, including an objective assessment of the pros and cons of Chapter 9 “Municipal Reorganization” and a review of school taxes which represent more than half of our total taxes.

A KURA Clean-up Day is being planned. This may be coordinated with many other Kingston organizations in an attempt to have a major impact on all of the Kingston community from the Rondout to the Stockade. The proposed date is April 24.

All of these General Meetings will include a status report on our basic mission, the reduction of nuisances that negatively impact the quality of life.

Please encourage your friends and neighbors to become a part of KURA and volunteer to assist in its activities. Sign up on this web site.