Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter

http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9

Tow Truck Hijack: Niagara Falls Wants to Raise Rates Tow Truck Companies Pay to City

Laurel Sheehan-Wasik:

“Like that’s going to solve decades of bad decisions from the various politicians that have been elected to office only to become yet another disappointment. The Tow Truck drivers will only pass the rate hike onto the taxpayer….again. Another tax hike disguised as a fee. No improvement of service…just more money to blow on pet projects whose only purpose is to get the person re-elected, not to better the city.”

Robert Russell:

“It’s things like this that make me very seriously consider running for election. I have a very simple solution to the budget problem: cut the fat from the budget. Slash salaries across the board, from the Mayor down. Consolidate duties spread out among multiple departments into one. Get rid of those that aren’t pulling their weight. That alone would make a huge dent in the problem.

Next, sit down with the Senecas and offer a compromise. The state isn’t going to win there. They were stupid when they renegotiated the compact and signed without reading it. However, that puts Niagara Falls in a good position. Under the compact, we got about 6% of the slot machine revenues (state got 25, then the Falls got 25% of that). Negotiate a deal where the Senecas pay the city directly 10-15%. City wins, Senecas win, state loses (but who cares). If they agree, take the extra 4-9% and set it aside for a rainy day, or include it in the budget and use it to lower taxes to encourage people and businesses to come into the city.

Real leadership starts at the top. It’s time elected officials stop living a Salvatore’s lifestyle on a McDonald’s budget. When we are the highest taxed city in the highest taxed state in the country, with streets that put the roads of Beirut to shame, and a steadily dwindling population, something has to change.”