CANTON, New York (WWNY) – St. Lawrence County legislators will consider a proposal Monday night which – they say – will ease the city of Ogdensburg’s money problems and undo some of the cuts to the police and fire departments.
Whether this is progress depends on who you ask.
The proposal is to split the final one percent of sales tax collected within the city 50-50, with the city getting half.
7 News was told Friday that the new proposal could net the city an extra $600,000 to $700,000 a year, though that number is still very preliminary.
The city and county have been at odds for the last several years over sales tax. The fight has turned bitter and personal.
“We’re hoping that this move here will help mend some of the fences that we’ve had with the city of Ogdensburg and help them with the issues that they’re facing,” Bill Sheridan, chairman of the county legislature, told 7 News Friday.
Sheridan credits District 1 legislator Jim Reagen and District 2 legislator Dave Forsythe for leading the effort to resolve the sales tax dispute.
Reagen, who represents Ogdensburg, said Friday he hopes the full board will back the proposal.
“I do believe that this will give us more money, substantially more money, than what we have,” he said.
Ogdensburg city manager Stephen Jellie praised the efforts of Reagen and Forsythe, but was skeptical of the deal Friday.
“If they’re offering us 50 percent of the last penny, along with us continuing to pre-empt, as a means to preclude us from getting our rightful full one percent of the city’s sales tax collected, I don’t know that I would categorize that necessarily as progress. In fact, I would say this is grandstanding,” Jellie told 7 News.
The administration of Ogdensburg mayor Mike Skelly, with Jellie as a key player, has cut staff at both the fire and police departments.
Legislators said Friday they hope money from the new proposal would restore some of those cuts.
And – as usual – Friday’s announcement brought with it continued bickering.
In the county’s prepared statement, county treasurer Renee Cole said ““Public safety, specifically police and fire, have taken a huge hit from the Skelly administration – over three quarters of the 30.5 positions cut from the budget between 2020 to 2022 have been police & fire positions, from 61.5 to 38 positions which includes the part-time fire chief.
“This was done under the premise that the city can no longer afford to pay for public safety services due to a reduction in their sales tax revenue.
“I applaud the County Board of Legislators for bringing this resolution forward in an effort to assist in providing this financial resource to assist in supporting the safety of the citizens of the City of Ogdensburg.”
Jellie, in turn, said Cole “is making all attempts to recover from her truly incompetent and spineless handling of the Property Tax matter by appearing to be a champion for Ogdensburg in the Sales Tax matter and Public Safety; no one is fooled.”
In the county’s prepared statement, legislator Kevin Acres argues “The recent proposal by Ogdensburg City Manager Steven Jellie to staff only three firefighters per shift is reckless and dangerous to not only the firefighting personnel responding to an incident but also to the residents of the City of Ogdensburg.”
Jellie responded “it was Kevin Acres that complained at every Sales Tax meeting about the exorbitant contracts awarded to City Police and Fire unions and how the previous Mayor and City Council were abusively spending all the sales tax money and making County union negotiations impossible.”
If the county legislature’s finance committee approves the measure Monday night, it will go before the full board for approval February 7.
The full statement of the county
Canton, NY — On Monday, January 31, 2022, St. Lawrence County Legislators and County Treasurer Renee Cole intend to tackle the multi-year fight over the distribution of sales tax receipts with the City of Ogdensburg while simultaneously providing relief to the citizens of the City of Ogdensburg for safety and security measures. Legislators will introduce a resolution that would increase the distribution of sales tax receipts to the City of Ogdensburg to assist in providing additional funding for law enforcement and firefighting services.
From 1999 until 2021, the City of Ogdensburg and St. Lawrence County collected and distributed sales tax receipts according to a mutual agreement, an agreement that was required to be renegotiated prior to the expiration of each preceding agreement. Despite efforts to renegotiate a new agreement (based upon population to put the City in line with the other communities in the County), in 2021, the City of Ogdensburg declared impasse and sought to pre-empt the share of the initial 3% of sales tax receipts within the City sales tax district. Separately, the City sought but failed to secure state legislation to increase their power to retain an additional 1% of sales tax receipts within the City.
Citing the loss of sales tax revenue by the City, the City of Ogdensburg announced its intention to implement drastic cost cutting measures, which included a reduction of staffing at both the Ogdensburg City Police Department and the Ogdensburg City Fire Department. The failure of the City to obtain the additional sales tax has been cited by the City administration as resulting in the elimination of four (4) fire department positions and three (3) police department positions. Part of this fight has even made its way to Albany as the subject of a recent appellate decision known as City of Ogdensburg v. Ogdensburg Firefighters Association Local 1799. County Legislators and the County Treasurer, aware of the safety and security issues faced by the citizens, intend to try to bolster police and firefighting operations through an infusion of sales tax funding. Given the need to protect the citizens of City of Ogdensburg, the Board of Legislators hopes to increase funding targeted towards retaining those positions necessary to meet minimum staffing requirements for fire safety and to provide for appropriate policing staffing levels.
St. Lawrence County Finance Committee Chair and resolution sponsor Legislator Kevin Acres (R – District 8) stated, “The recent proposal by Ogdensburg City Manager Steven Jellie to staff only three firefighters per shift is reckless and dangerous to not only the firefighting personnel responding to an incident but also to the residents of the City of Ogdensburg. This County resolution, which authorizes the 50/50 sharing of the final one percent of sales tax generated within the city limits, will provide financial security to the residents of the City so that public safety will be maintained in the best interests of their community.”
St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators Chair Bill Sheridan (R – District 4) applauded the efforts of County Legislators Dave Forsythe (R – District 2) and Jim Reagan (R – District 1) in bringing about the resolution. “We need to recognize two Legislators that have worked diligently in their representation on behalf of the City of Ogdensburg; Dave Forsythe and Jim Reagen. At times, negotiations for the last three and a half years have been contentious. Legislators Reagen and Forsythe have fought long and hard for their constituents. They both were involved with the organizational set up of this measure. It will benefit the folks in the City and keep our towns and villages whole in the distribution of sales tax.”
When asked for comment about the planned move, Ogdensburg Firefighters Local 1799 President Jason Bouchard stated, “Ogdensburg Firefighters Local 1799 is extremely grateful that the St. Lawrence County Administration has taken such a vested interest in the safety of the City of Ogdensburg and its citizens. The County’s recognition of the undeniable impact of the deep cuts made to public safety in our City shows their true concern lies in the well-being of the people they represent. This is a refreshing display of leadership that should be recognized and appreciated by all residents, business owners, and visitors of our great City.”
St. Lawrence County Treasurer Renee Cole expressed her support for the measure. “Public safety, specifically police and fire, have taken a huge hit from the Skelly administration – over three quarters of the 30.5 positions cut from the budget between 2020 to 2022 have been police & fire positions, from 61.5 to 38 positions which includes the part-time fire chief. This was done under the premise that the city can no longer afford to pay for public safety services due to a reduction in their sales tax revenue. I applaud the County Board of Legislators for bringing this resolution forward in an effort to assist in providing this financial resource to assist in supporting the safety of the citizens of the City of Ogdensburg.”
Ogdensburg Police Benevolent President Patrolman Charles Shaver followed by stating, “The PBA is grateful for the County’s willingness to provide additional funding to the City of Ogdensburg to help rebuild public safety. The funding will help alleviate the stress and workloads that our officers are currently under due to the reduction in staffing. Additional positions will allow officers to be more proactive in the community and provide greater service to the citizens of Ogdensburg.”
The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators will hold its monthly Finance Committee Meeting on Monday, January 31, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. at the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators Chambers located at 48 Court Street in Canton, New York. Interested parties may attend in person or watch the proceedings on-line through a YouTube supported channel with link through the St. Lawrence County website at www.stlawco.org.
The full statement of Stephen Jellie
The City of Ogdensburg applauds the relentless efforts of St. Lawrence County Legislators David Forsythe and James Reagan to bring a fair and equitable agreement on the distribution of sales tax collections and the City eagerly awaits the details of St. Lawrence County’s latest proposal since their original plan to reduce the City’s share of sales tax by 50%, or $1.6M in revenue for 2022. The City has been down this road several times with County Officials in the past 18 months promising a deal, only to have all efforts rejected when the votes were cast by the full Board. The press release contains few financial details so it is impossible for the City to comment until after Monday’s meeting of the Finance Committee. If the proposal actually passes, City Council will review and provide an immediate response. Of note in the proposal is the County once again attempting to manipulate how the City of Ogdensburg governs itself and uses it resources (Public Safety). County Administrator Ruth Doyle, Board Chairmen William Sheridan, County Attorney Stephen Button and Legislator Joe Lightfoot have yet to hire a leader and provide adequate resources for the County Department of Social Services that has been embattled since a scathing report was issued last summer detailing widespread abuses and mismanagement within the department; County leaders criticism of the City is just their weak attempt to deflect the failure and inability to correct the issues.
In regards to the well scripted and near theatrical press release sponsored by County Treasurer Renee Cole, the City of Ogdensburg offers the following:
At no time did the City of Ogdensburg declare impasse in this matter and we have continued to work through Legislators David Forsythe, James Reagan and Rita Curran to hammer out a fair deal for the past 18 months – that is a fact that is well documented and verifiable. Since 2020 as many as 6 proposals were collectively presented to the full County Board, all were REJECTED.
County Treasurer Renee Cole played NO ROLE in the Sales Tax Distribution matter and she is attempting to re-write history and act as if she did with her fake news release. Renee Cole did attend one meeting of the Sales Tax Working Group with the sole purpose of surprising City Officials that the City was in arrears to the County for over $825,000 in delinquent Property Tax payments; the timing was certainly not a coincidence and she was well scripted that day too. Upon investigation, the Skelly Administration uncovered that County Treasurer Renee Cole and former City Comptroller Timothy Johnson failed to address this matter in previous years by establishing a repayment agreement – some of the debt is 20 years old. The new Mayor (Skelly) and new City Manager (Jellie) were not made aware of the debt until Sales Tax Distribution negotiations commenced; a truly sneaky and calculated action by Renee Cole and the former City Comptroller, who retired almost immediately following this disclosure. Renee Cole claimed that she had no real knowledge until that year that the County was owed such a large amount with no agreement in place for repayment which begs the question of her integrity (did she know) or her competence (did she really not know). The Skelly Administration paid 50% of the debt in 2021 and will pay the balance in 2022. Renee Cole played NO ROLE in that agreement either other than to concur with the repayment plan submitted by the Skelly Administration.
County Treasurer Renee Cole and County Attorney Stephen Button attempted to prevent the City of Ogdensburg from governing itself when they filed a lawsuit in NYS Supreme Court in December to prevent the City from enacting changes to the City Charter in regards to Property Tax Collection and Foreclosure. The lawsuit was swiftly DISMISSED by Supreme Court Justice Mary A. Farley and the City allowed to proceed with governing itself. Renee Cole and Stephen Button have now sought the assistance of an Albany-based appeals court to solve this local matter, although their request for a “STAY” of the City’s Charter changes was DENIED by the Appellate Court they are seeking relief from. In the meantime County Treasurer Renee Cole retaliated against all taxpayers of the City by ruthlessly changing the date for County Property Tax Collection in the City from its long history of April to January with NO NOTICE. Of course, Renee Cole attempted to blame City Officials, but the facts clearly illustrate that Renee Cole was scattered, confused and clueless when her attempt at a lawsuit failed. Despite being independently elected, it continues to be obvious that Renee Cole only wants to serve and please County Finance Chairmen Kevin Acres. Renee Cole is making all attempts to recover from her truly incompetent and spineless handling of the Property Tax matter by appearing to be a champion for Ogdensburg in the Sales Tax matter and Public Safety; no one is fooled and Renee Cole cannot provide one piece of factual proof that she has done anything to date on this matter except support the rejections of every proposal offered by City Officials and Legislators Forsythe, Reagan and Curran. Ogdensburg has been discussing this matter for months, where was Renee Cole all that time?
For his part of this fictional press release, Legislator Kevin Acres attempts to appear concerned about resident of the City of Ogdensburg, he absolutely is not and the facts well define that. Kevin Acres is the author and champion of the plan to reduce Ogdensburg share of the Sales Tax Distribution by 50% – $1.6M projected in 2022 and he has voted “NO” to each and every plan presented to the Finance Committee and the Full Board in 2020 and 2021. Interestingly enough, it was Kevin Acres that complained at every Sales Tax meeting about the exorbitant contracts awarded to City Police and Fire unions and how the previous Mayor and City Council were abusively spending all the sales tax money and making County union negotiations impossible; now Kevin Acres is concerned about Ogdensburg Public Safety – no he is not, he is trying to bail Renee Cole out of the mess he helped her get into.
The City remains open to respectful and thoughtful negotiations with St. Lawrence County and if the County is in fact prepared to negotiate a fair deal on Sales Tax Distribution, the City will agree to meet immediately.
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