Battle of the buses. City bus, left, and LOOP bus
POUGHKEEPSIE – A formal public hearing on the Poughkeepsie budget
proposal, which in present form would hike taxes over 16 percent, is weeks
away. That didn’t stop an overflow crowd of citizens who packed
the council chambers Monday night from having their say, mostly on what
has long been a sore point – handing the popular city buses over
to the Dutchess County bus system.
Mayor Robert Rolison, accompanied by Commissioner of Finance Marc Nelson, tried again to defend having to make very tough choices.
Nelson didn’t deny that 2017 will be rough, but the budget has been crafted to look forward.
“And a tremendous amount of work went into reducing, adjusting and moving revenue pieces around so that we could have some degree of confidence that if this body passes this budget, we will enter 2018 with a sizeable no deficit,” Nelson said.
Rolison said he is putting his faith in teamwork.
“The partnership that we have as far as this administration goes is its department heads and its employees working with the council on this budget,” the mayor said. “We have almost two months, which will come by and go pretty quickly, to work on this.”
The bus issue has been a key point of Rolison’s restructuring.
It was also the point of contention for most of the 40 citizens who spoke during public comment. Among them was Constantine Kozolias, a long-time veteran of council meetings.
“If you let the county take over the buses, you’re throwing the senior citizens under the buses,” Kozolias argued.
Another regular public comment participant, Ken Stickle, noted a seven percent tax hike that came with the current budget. He said 23 percent in two years could drive some from the city.
“I feel sorry for the people that the buses may be going, but guess what … we may be going, the taxpayers,” Stickle warned.
Earl Brown called the buses a “lifeline for the city.”
Another citizen said few riders would object to a fare increase, perhaps 50 cents.
No decisions were made Monday night. Weekly budget workshops, with department heads, begin on Wednesday.
