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November 21, 2009
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Schools learn about abolitionist John Brown.
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High Peaks Dental honored for their commitment.
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North Elba budget cuts highway taxes for village residents By Jonathan Alexander denpubs@denpubs.com LAKE PLACID — The North Elba Town Board and Supervisor Robi Politi aren’t afraid to take some chances and do things a little differently – a fact that’s reflected in the 2010 town budget adopted unanimously on Tuesday night. For the first time in the region’s history, village property owners will get some relief from being double-taxed because of the multiple layers of jurisdiction and governments. The 2010 budget eliminates the town highway tax for village residents and property owners. And for Politi, certain citizens being taxed twice for the same service just isn’t fair. “We are taking some risks, in some ways, and doing some things that haven’t been done, but in our opinion we are doing the right things,” Politi said. “One of the reasons that things don’t get done like eliminating highway tax is because of money; it’s always a money issue. The county should have been revenue-sharing sales tax, especially because of all the money that we generate. In my opinion it is a crime that the money is being utilized by the county and we never get the benefit.” The total budget decreases expenditures by roughly $2.1 million relative to 2009 and totals $7.8 million in appropriations. However, this apparent savings is inflated because $1.1 million of that money that was removed from the budget stems from federal funds for the Lake Placid Airport. Yet, the town board has cut just over $1 million from the budget and considering the outlook on the coming revenue streams, it’s the only thing that could save the taxpayers from shouldering the burden. The total tax levy will increase 2.4 percent over last year, topping off at $3.82 million. “People automatically think that the levy goes up because you are spending more money; that is not the
See TAXES, page 9
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Sprague claims win in Essex County DA race Absentee ballots put victory out of reach for Garcia By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — The count of absentee ballots has upheld Kristy Sprague’s victory in the race for Essex County District Attorney. Sprague finished with a 125-vote lead over incumbent Julie Garcia after Essex County Board of Elections officials completed their count of more than 850 absentee ballots Nov. 16. With more than 12,000 votes counted on election night, Sprague, who ran on the Republican and Independent lines, held just a 75vote lead over Garcia, who ran as a Democrat.
Tabulation of absentee ballots began Nov. 12 under the close scrutiny of County Attorney Daniel Manning and lawyers representing both Garcia and Sprague. Both candidates picked up hundreds more votes, but as Sprague’s lead slowly grew, Garcia ultimately admitted defeat. “Kristy has won the race, and I congratulate her and wish her success,” said Garcia. “I wish her well in her new position.” Sprague said she was very pleased with the results and how the absentee votes followed the typical trend of mirroring results on election day. Both candidates expressed satisfaction with the
counting process. “It went pretty smoothly,” said Sprague, “I thought once the attorneys were involved, things would be pretty contentious, but everyone was very congenial. I think it was a good process.” “It was an extremely close race, and I’m satisfied with the results,” said Garcia. Sprague will take office Jan. 1. Until then, she’s hoping to put the elections behind her and prepare for the next four years as District Attorney. “I look forward to fulfilling the promises I made to the voters and making some positive changes in the county,” she said. One of the most immedi-
Kristy Sprague
Julie Garcia
ate changes Sprague expects to make is in the way the office will handle its cases. “First and foremost, I think we need to take a look at the allocation of cases to the staff,” said Sprague, noting her desire to be a hands-
on prosecutor. “We’ll look at the staffing and what we, as a team, can do in the future.” She’ll also be working to get up to speed on some of the cases slated to be tried in January, such as the
See SPRAGUE, page 8
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