Island Dispatch, 2008-11-07

              Island Dispatch  Niagara | Frontier Publications For Heme Delivery of the island Dispatch Call 775-7676 proud publishers of Island Dispatch Lewiston-Porter Sentinel Grand Island Penny Saver Niagara-Wheatfield Tribune www.wnypapers.com 20 Pages $1.00 V01.64 No. 34 November 7, 2008 773-7676 K of C page 6 Business Forum page 7 Cookies page 9 Inside The Dispatch Church 6 School 7 Sports 12 Classifieds 14 Crossword 15 Service Directory 19 Picture Page 20 Sales tax revenues may stall; mortgage tax revenues fall by Larry Austin The impact of the national and state economy may filtering down to the town level. In a letter to Town Supervisor Peter McMahon, Erie County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz said the economy has been on a rollercoaster ride, and that events on WaU Street are having an impact on Erie County coffers.Erie County Executive Chris Collins has proposed a 2009 county budget that includes no growth in sales tax receipts. "While this is a very conservative estimate, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Erie County's sales tax receipts will level off in the next year," Poloncarz wrote. The county shares 46 percent of the local share of sales taxes with cities, towns and" villages and school districts. "Given this fact, you should be aware that it is quite possible that your entity will not receive any increased revenue from sales taxes next year, and you should budget accordingly," Poloncarz wrote. In addition, Poloncarz reports that the April to September 2008 mortgage taxes collected by the County Clerk's office have declined more than $2 million compared to 2007, or 20 percent The mortgage tax revenues become final in December, but Poloncarz likewise advised that most entities can expect a 20 percent decline in revenue, "and you should prepare your 2009 budgets based on this reduced amount" McMahon reported that with the estimates he has received on mortgage taxes from Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul, the town's budget estimates for revenue look good. Public Hearings Prior to conducting its regularregular business at Monday's regular Grand Island Town Board meeting, the board held three public hearings. No one spoke at a public hearing on whether or not the board should approve a plan to spend $2,303,000 (financed, by serial bonds) on improvements to the town water district After the hearing, the board voted first to adopt a resolution to make the improvements, and then 5-0 to adopt a bond resolution to spend $2,303,000. According to the resolution, the project entails the installation of approximately 2,500 feet of 16-inch waterline from the plant discharge to Baseline Road and then to Bush Road; the upgrade of tube settlers for the existing concrete coagulation basins at the old side of the water treatment plant; and the replacement of the existing accelerator with Vikings ousted in football semifinals in Iroquois, 26-23 Chiefs back scores four touchdowns Grand Island football coach Dean Santorio looks on as Iroquois celebrates at midfield following their 26-23 victory over Grand Island Saturday night in Elma. The Chiefs advance to play Sweet Home at Ralph Wilson Stadium. See page 12 for details and photos of the game, (photo by Larry Austin) Hoyt returned to Albany Shelia Ferrentino and John McCain have two things in common. They both lost their election bids on Tuesday, but they both carried Grand Island. Ferrentino, an Island Republican seeking the 144 th Assembly District seat held by Buffalo Democrat Sam Hoyt carried tier hometown with 4,746 votes to Hoyf s 4,126. Hoyt however, won with 27,365 votes district-wide, or 70 percent of all votes cast. Ferrentino received 11,649 votes. Hoyt a 16-year incumbent survived a heated Democratic Primary battle after allegations of mis- conduct with former interns surfaced days before the September primary. Barack Obama won the presidency, but on the Island, the Illinois senator lost to Arizona Sen. John McCain 5,395 to 4,739. (See page 5 for transcripts of the post-election speeches by both presidential candidates.) Grand Island Town Clerk Patfie Frentzel said the vote totals do not as yet include the affidavit and absentee ballots and are unofficial. Having both a native Islander on the ballot and an historic presidential race led to a strong turnout at the polls. According to Frentzel, 10,500 Island voters cast votes in the election, which she said is about a 75 percent turnout for Grand Island. Running unopposed in the 60th Senate District, State Sen. Antoine Thompson received 58,063 votes to earn his second term, but it was his efforts on the committee to elect Democrats statewide that will have his most impact The Democrats wrested control of the state senate from the Republicans, giving them the majority in both houses of the Albany legislature and the governor's office for the first time in more than 70 years. 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