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Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton

By Ray & Kimberly Feliciano

Q: As Mayor of Schenectady, do you consider yourself approachable? "People don't know how to navigate the democratic system, and feel they can't call. People are amazed when they'll call here with a complaint and I'll call them back personally. For 8 years, the previous Mayor was known for his consistent inability to return phone calls or answer mail. If I had the money, I'd hire 3 more people to write letters and return phone calls because there's never enough time. I think it's the little things like that, the constituent service and the one-on-one. My father was known for his ability to relate to every single voter. I have a moral obligation in that I think that is what a Mayor or any elected official ought to do. I've got a family legacy that says if I don't do it they're going to notice [laugh]."

Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton (D) (Photos - Kimberly Feliciano)

Q: What is Schenectady’s population?

Just a hair under 62,000. It’s a diverse population, a working class city that has seen better days-It was the birthplace of General Electric and was an industrial manufacturing city. In the 1940’s and 1950’s you had Erie Blvd booming with full employment at GE and the American Locomotive Company, too.

Q: After one year, how do you like your job?

I enjoy it very, very much. I am surprised at how much I enjoy it, despite the tremendous challenges economically and the frustrations about never being able to as much as you would like to be able to do-never being able to show up at everyone’s party, fundraiser, cocktail party, and benefit. I started Jan 1st 2004 by proclaiming that our #1 challenge is, was, continues to be, and probably will be financial management. We had fallen so far so fast to the lowest ranked credit rating municipality in the entire state. They have elevated us from negative to stable and up to positive. What that means is that the things that we have done have been so instrumental in improving things that within the next 18-24 months we’ll have a greater than 50% chance of getting a bond. We’ve sold the municipal parking garage, which was something the previous administration said they were going to do. It was a tremendous financial drain to us. Not only was it sold, but it was sold for a million dollars more, under a deal that I negotiated. We sold our tax liens, which means we either collected or we were made whole for more than $6 million in delinquent property taxes not paid between 1998 and 2003.

Q: The tax liens were sold to a 3rd party?

Correct. We achieved ‘home rule’ state legislation to give us the sole authority to be able to sell our tax liens, the rights to collect delinquent property taxes to an independent firm. Currently in NY state, no one else can do that unless you opted out of the real property tax law around 1998. So that was very key. Now they are the property and the responsibility of an independent company. They buy the liens and all they have to do is hold on to them for six months and they’ve already made 12%. Between the people who had the fear of God put into them because they didn’t want to deal with this private company, and the $3.7 million that the firm eventually bought from us (dollar for dollar), we took in about $6.4 billion in 2004. Much of that was revenue that had been written off, so we were actually able to declare that new revenue and use it to pay down the $10.2 million deficit. Now we go into 2005 with a $3.2 million deficit instead of $10.2 million.

Q: There’s news of a garbage fee. Will that help bring the credit score up?

Yep. It costs us $5.6 million per year to collect garbage in the city. We charge for 1-family ($131), 2-family ($262), and 3-family ($393). The beauty of putting it into a separate fund is because we are very close to our constitutional tax limit, which is established by the comptroller’s office. If we raise taxes purely to fund the increase in cost, it would probably go up to 17%, and that would put us within 95% of our constitutional taxing, dangerously close. Anything over 80% is dangerous. This is a problem that most municipalities and towns are having. Everybody is getting dangerously close to their tax limit. When you reach it, you have to take state aid. For every dollar that exceeds the limit, a dollar is taken away. Our city is under funded of state aid.

Q: So, the garbage fee is not considered a tax?

It’s not mechanically a tax because you couldn’t write it off on your income taxes. The money is a fee for service, but legally as the IRS is concerned, it is not a property tax. Your total financial obligation is going to be more, and we average that in. We are very up front about that. Between the proposed tax hike and your garbage fee, the average home owner’s (assessed at $80,000) financial obligation is going to be about 15%.

Q: How long will homeowners experience this?

I don’t think you can put a finite cap on it. I think it is something that is essential and it’s instrumental-I think Moody’s specifically cited that. They said that they like that there is a $2.7 million recurring revenue stream going into 2005, whereas before there was none. They like that we are selling our tax liens, being made whole on our taxes, and we are setting a variety of other measures to improve our financial situation. We sat down with Rochester administrators because they’ve had a garbage fee in place since 1976, started when they were $32 million over their constitutional tax limit-some tremendous loss with a huge financial obligation, so they had to think of new ways. Not only do they have a garbage fee, but they have a curb fee, a sidewalk maintenance fee, a snow plow fee. They are doing it for exactly the same reason. They are winning business, too, competing against the private sector. It’s something that is intriguing because we like that. We also like the concept of a curb fee because it would apply universally to everyone, including those who don’t pay property taxes-churches, agencies, hospitals, Union College. This is something we are contemplating because as you read the Moody’s report, they like that and the fact that we are thinking outside the box to make Schenectady’s financial situation stable going into 2005 and beyond.

Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton looking through The Informed Constituent. (Photos - Kimberly Feliciano)

Mayor Stratton discusses his first year in office with FBA founder Ray Feliciano.

Q: Are property values increasing?

“I know residential property have been. Houses are selling for 10’s of thousands of dollars more than just a couple of years ago.”

Q: What is the Metroplex?

“Metroplex is a government created organization. It’s a public affiliate like any government organization that is not a state agency but is set up by the act of the legislature funded through public funding. Its mandate is to invest in projects in Schenectady. Through that we’ve had more than $60 million in new projects. One of the ones I just announced that I’m very, very proud of is regarding the former Big End Plaza (across from Union College), which will be the site of a new state-of-the-art YMCA, a focal point to help people rediscover and re-identify with our city.”

Q: Do you see the crime rate dropping?

“I see this improving. I know we had nine homicides last year in 2003...We just announced Project Impact which is a joint effort between our police department, the county district attorney’s office, and the state and federal authorities to provide us with the resources we need to fight crime.”

Q: How much coordination do you have with Albany and the tri-city area?

“We all coordinate through the Capital Center for Economic Growth Forum every two months or so. The Mayors of Troy, Albany, and myself, and the town supervisors, get together and exchange ideas and philosophies.”

Q: What are your key priorities as Mayor?

“I think services are #1. I came in to my job with a mandate for financial management because there really was none here. The city has gone through five financial directors in eight years. So I put my money in, and I hired two financial professionals. I have qualified people who know what they are doing. My priority was to invest resources in top quality management that could not only manage the city but also find out just how deep our financial problem is. We’ve also put money into public services. We want to make sure pot holes are filled, that roads are plowed properly, and neighborhoods are kept clean. Those are the basic issues that the tax payers and city residents react to every day.

Q: What is your proudest accomplishment in your first year as Mayor?

“I think financial management, bringing people back a sense of confidence and optimism. One thing that struck me during the presidential campaign was Senator Edward’s speech, ‘Hope is on the way.’ People for so long had no hope, no reason to be optimistic. I would say I’m most proud that I am bringing people back a sense of hope, a sense of optimism, and a sense of believing that better days are ahead for us.”

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