Blog Sept. 18
Thursday, Sept. 18 - Today campaigning had to wait while I listened to Joseph Sluzar,
Broome County Attorney, on gas drilling and County Executive Barbara Fiala present her
2009 Budget proposal.
Mr. Sluzar had just recently returned from Fort Worth TX and Chemung County to gather
information on gas leases and exploration, an issue Broome County will soon have to
address in many ways. What I was able to glean from Mr. Sluzar’s informative
presentation is that the industry and its regulation are still relatively open to interpretation
and there remain many intangibles in terms of development and regulation. Basically it is
still the Wild West out there.
Case in point, Mr. Sluzar provided the example of a gas well drilled in the heart of Fort
Worth's urban core. Once gas was found there the well was capped because there was still
no plan in place as to how to extract it and where the resources to do so would come from
and how they would be extracted, stored and removed from the site. That’s all before the
actually production and transportation of the gas.
Another point of concern is that once the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) grants a gas drilling permit, DEC regulation preempt most if not all local zoning
regulations and local laws. Municipalities and Broome County basically have little control.
That could be worrisome even though I was told by someone already involved in the gas
leases that the DEC is extremely vigilant and does a good job of serving the public interest.
Still, giving up local autonomy is not something to do lightly.
After Mr. Sluzar, Mrs. Fiala presented her 2009 budget. Quite remarkably she and her
administration have held taxes increases to 2.77%, not bad when you think Mayor Ryan of
Binghamton just proposed a 17% increase to Binghamtonians.
Five million in revenue is estimated to come from gas drilling. Let's hope that will be the
case.
One item Fiala was proud of, with justification, was a $1.25 million Tax Stabilization Fund.
This Fund could offset future tax increases by about 2% if necessary. As Mrs. Fiala
noted, “Broome County is strong enough to sustain this fund”. Turns out though, that the
legislature had created this a few years ago and it had more money in it. Recently it had
been used to offset other tax increases. That part was sort of left out.
I have not had time to further study the budget at all nor was I given a copy, though I
assume it will be available on-line. My colleagues will probably discuss this Saturday
morning and I may have more comment to offer at that time.
One specific increased mentioned by the County Executive was an increase in bus fares.
She proposes to raise a single fare by 25% from $1.00 to $1.25.
That is less than I would have liked. I thought $1.50 was reasonable and well-advised.
Ms. Fiala is seeking to raise the BC Country from $2.00 to $4.00, or 100%
That seems too much to me.
I'm willing to bet the final numbers might be $1.50 and $3.00 which is exactly what I
would suggest. Fifty percent increases across the board.
That would be "fair" and equitable.
Broome County Attorney, on gas drilling and County Executive Barbara Fiala present her
2009 Budget proposal.
Mr. Sluzar had just recently returned from Fort Worth TX and Chemung County to gather
information on gas leases and exploration, an issue Broome County will soon have to
address in many ways. What I was able to glean from Mr. Sluzar’s informative
presentation is that the industry and its regulation are still relatively open to interpretation
and there remain many intangibles in terms of development and regulation. Basically it is
still the Wild West out there.
Case in point, Mr. Sluzar provided the example of a gas well drilled in the heart of Fort
Worth's urban core. Once gas was found there the well was capped because there was still
no plan in place as to how to extract it and where the resources to do so would come from
and how they would be extracted, stored and removed from the site. That’s all before the
actually production and transportation of the gas.
Another point of concern is that once the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) grants a gas drilling permit, DEC regulation preempt most if not all local zoning
regulations and local laws. Municipalities and Broome County basically have little control.
That could be worrisome even though I was told by someone already involved in the gas
leases that the DEC is extremely vigilant and does a good job of serving the public interest.
Still, giving up local autonomy is not something to do lightly.
After Mr. Sluzar, Mrs. Fiala presented her 2009 budget. Quite remarkably she and her
administration have held taxes increases to 2.77%, not bad when you think Mayor Ryan of
Binghamton just proposed a 17% increase to Binghamtonians.
Five million in revenue is estimated to come from gas drilling. Let's hope that will be the
case.
One item Fiala was proud of, with justification, was a $1.25 million Tax Stabilization Fund.
This Fund could offset future tax increases by about 2% if necessary. As Mrs. Fiala
noted, “Broome County is strong enough to sustain this fund”. Turns out though, that the
legislature had created this a few years ago and it had more money in it. Recently it had
been used to offset other tax increases. That part was sort of left out.
I have not had time to further study the budget at all nor was I given a copy, though I
assume it will be available on-line. My colleagues will probably discuss this Saturday
morning and I may have more comment to offer at that time.
One specific increased mentioned by the County Executive was an increase in bus fares.
She proposes to raise a single fare by 25% from $1.00 to $1.25.
That is less than I would have liked. I thought $1.50 was reasonable and well-advised.
Ms. Fiala is seeking to raise the BC Country from $2.00 to $4.00, or 100%
That seems too much to me.
I'm willing to bet the final numbers might be $1.50 and $3.00 which is exactly what I
would suggest. Fifty percent increases across the board.
That would be "fair" and equitable.