Former Lewiston Supervisor sets the record straight on taxes
By Ron Winkley
Former Supervisor – Town of Lewiston
Former Supervisor Dennis Brochey, presently residing in Las Vegas, is trying to influence this year’s Town election by posting on Facebook and writing “Letters to the Editor” with incorrect and distorted information about the lack of a town tax in 2015 for the 2016 budget year. It seems that he is making an effort to place blame on Republicans.
The facts are, that in the fall of 2015, then-Supervisor Dennis Brochey (before he resigned and moved to Vegas) presented his budget to the Town Board for review. His proposed 2016 budget did NOT include a tax. One of the main duties of a supervisor is to prepare, present and recommend a budget. As the budget process continued, the town tax was not recommended by Mr. Brochey, nor was it included in the preliminary budget.
Mr. Brochey quit Lewiston, leaving Deputy Supervisor Briglio to pick up the financial pieces, and again no town tax was recommended, nor even presented.
After I was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Brochey, and newly elected William Geiben was appointed to fill the resulting vacancy, intense conversations took place about the budget for 2016. It determined that it was just too late to initiate the much needed town tax that would have stabilized the Town of Lewiston’s finances for the upcoming year.
When Steve Broderick took office in 2016 he pledged to thoroughly review the town’s financial situation and make recommendations in a timely manner “to right the ship.”
Mr. Broderick made tough recommendations and the current board did the right thing. They stopped using fund balances and stopped relying on revenues that were unpredictable. The next year’s realistic budget included a town tax and was unanimously approved by the board.
The purpose of this letter was to set the record straight. Supervisor Broderick and the Town Board of Beth Ceretto, Alfonso Marra Bax, Robin Morreale and William Geiben should be commended for doing the right thing.
