From Vince Ferraraccio, Code Enforcement Officer
From The Clerk’s Office
From Mayor Len Szymanski
From Deputy Mayor James T. Niwinski
From Gene Beszczynski, DPW Chief
REMINDER
Daylight Savings
time ends on
Saturday, November
5. Don’t forget to turn
your clocks back one
hour before you go
to bed!!
As promised in earlier editions of the Sloan Connection, we have had a very busy construction
year. Early spring had seen the demolition of an old railroad building owned by the Village at the
foot of Roland Street. We have completed sanitary sewer repairs on Atlantic, Wagner and Griffith
streets this past summer and are currently doing repairs to all of Roland and Rutland street
sewers.
The parking lot of the Fire Hall is in the process of having drainage repairs and repaving with an
anticipated completion of early November 2011. Next year we should be undertaking additional
sewer work to complete the grant monies received from the NYS DEC.
On Friday, October 28th, the Village will be having its’ Halloween parade and party….hope to see
you all there!
See you around the Village…….
In an effort to continually provide our residents cost-effectiveness, we have and continue to explore
“shared municipal services” with the Town of Cheektowaga. Shared municipal services are a
collaboration between two or more municipalities/entities to share equipment, personnel or
facilities to save taxpayers money.
This is not a new concept but has recently been highlighted in the media as a means for
governments to reduce expenses. Cheektowaga currently provides police protection, judicial
proceedings, property tax assessments, and animal control. For the past two years, Cheektowaga
has provided the labor and equipment for our street paving, enabling us to complete more streets
than in prior years.
In a recent discussion with Supervisor Mary Holtz, I expressed our growing concern with the
rodent problem, worsened by the elimination of baiting by Erie County. Cheektowaga is in the
process of having several employees obtain a NYSDEC Structural Pest & Rodent Control
Pesticide Applicators License. After their certification is complete, Supervisor Holtz has agreed to
provide baiting services to the Village. Municipal employees, however, cannot bait private property.
The properties that can and will be baited are along the railroad at Broadway and Lovejoy, the bike
path and parks. Working with Cheektowaga and diligence by our own residents will help to reduce
the rodent problem in Sloan.
As Deputy Mayor, I will continue to investigate ways to provide you with superior service for your
tax dollars. Our goals for the future are to increase efficiency and support long-range planning of
facilities and capital improvements.
With the sudden falling of the leaves from the trees, the leaf pickup begins. As always, we are
asking our residents to put their piles of leaves on the headland (the grassy area between the
sidewalk and curb). Please do not put leaves in the street for pickup. The D.P.W. will make several
rounds through the village picking up leaves. We will begin on the east side of the Village and work
our way to the west side until all leaves are picked up. The frequency of our pickups will be
determined by the weather.
Any cut branches being disposed of must be cut to 4’ lengths and bundled not to exceed more than
40 lbs. They can be placed out with your normal trash.
Any residents hiring private contractors for snow removal need to make sure the contractor has
obtained a Village Plow Permit ($25 per plowing truck) from Village Hall. Snow cannot be plowed
or shoveled into the streets or pushed across the street onto your neighbor’s headland.
The winter parking ban goes into effect on November 15, 2011, and continues through April 1,
2012. Violators will be ticketed and/or towed. Parking permits for village hall or fire department
parking lots must be obtained from Village Hall.
From Tammy Bayes, Trustee; Debra Smith, Clerk/Treasurer; Karen Gold, Deputy Clerk
% inc/dec
-0.01
-0.02
0.01
-0.01
0.01
Tax Levy
$1,073,041.00
$1,049,707.00
$1,055,080.00
$1,053,172.00
$1,065,228.00
Tax Rate
16.494%
16.27%
16.27%
16.274%
16.768%
Taxable Valuation
$ 65,057,748.00
$ 64,517,615.00
$ 64,847,334.00
$ 64,713,958.00
$ 63,528,424.00
Budget Year
2007/2008
2008/2009
2009/2010
2010/2011
2011/2012
The figures on the
right reflect the last
five (5) budgets
adopted by the Village
Board. You will see
how the tax levy has
either increased or
decreased.
©Village of Sloan, NY, 2009-2011
In September, we attended a conference that focused on the “Property Tax Cap” signed into law by
Governor Cuomo on June 24, 2011. The tax cap takes effect for budgets beginning in 2012 for all
local governments, special districts and school districts, except for New York City and the “Big Five
Cities” school districts.
Unfortunately, the tax cap is coupled with a reduction in state aid for municipalities and no mandate
relief. The tax cap sets a limit on the annual growth of total property tax levy to 2% or the rate of
inflation, whichever is less. Many, including us, were under the impression that no one would see an
increase of more than 2% on what they pay annually in property tax. This is not true.
The 2% tax cap is on the total amount of property tax to be collected or “levied” by the Village in any
year. The 2% cap does not apply to the tax rate or what an owner pays per thousand of assessed
value on their property.
What effect will this have on you, as a Village resident? Over the past five years, the Village has
seen a $1,529,324 decrease in total assessed valuation. Despite the decrease in valuation, the
Village has seen only a $.27 increase in the same period, or the equivalent of $10.80 on a home
assessed at $40,000.
If the tax cap had been in effect for the past five years, it would not have made any difference in our
budgeting process. Through multi-year budget planning, an ongoing assessment of our capital
improvements and capital equipment needs, we do not anticipate any substantial increases to our
tax levy for the upcoming year.
Over the past summer, we were contacted by several residents regarding door-to-door sales
occurring in Sloan. If you have a sales person at your door, please be aware that they must have a
Village issued permit to work here.
To verify a permit, please call our office at 897-1560. If none has been issued, we can contact the
Cheektowaga Police for action.
In response to these concerns, we are currently taking addresses of residents who want to be
placed on a “Do Not Solicit” list. This list will be provided along with each solicitation permit issued
in the future. Violations by solicitors of the “Do Not Solicit” list will have their permit revoked.
The Building Department of Sloan has had another busy year. Since January 1st, we issued 94
building permits, generating $3,295.00 for the Village. Once again, almost ½ of all permits issued
were for replacement roofs. Others were issued for a variety of home improvements, including
fences, windows, bubblers, decks, pools, sheds and garages.
Fees range from $20.00 and up, and are commensurate with the type of work you are doing. Fees
paid cover the cost of plan and survey review, verification that your contractor has the proper
insurance as required by law, and site inspections if necessary. We have had numerous instances
this year where work began or was completed without the issuance of a building permit. If work for
which a permit is required began prior to approval, the fee will automatically double.
If you have any questions regarding the building permit process, please call Village Hall during
business hours or stop in on Wednesday afternoons between 4:30 and 6:00, when I have office
hours to meet with residents.
In closing, I want to remind everyone to be a good neighbor and keep your sidewalk clear of ice
and snow over the winter months. If you have an elderly or disabled person in your area, try to give
them a hand with their shoveling, too….thank you.
The Sloan Connection Fall 2011/Winter 2012
