NPT: If elected, what are your top three priorities?
RL: 1) Budgeting and taxes; 2) economic development; 3) environmental protection.
I’ve had the experience of working on the police budget. I was a little green behind the ears when I got in there. When you come from corporate America, there are far fewer considerations one has to encounter. But I’ve been looking at the budget we have now and analyzing it. As Bill Clinton said, I’m going to focus like a laser beam on the town, its budget and its finances. Because you can’t go anyplace else until you get a firm handle on that.
Once you do that, we can see what shape we’re in. In this period of economic downturn – state government, federal government handing out less money – we need to be more careful with how we spend taxpayer money. As a taxpayer here, as someone who’s lived here for 15 years, as someone who continues to live here and pay taxes here, I haven’t divested myself of the community. But there are a lot of people who are being forced to do that – and they don’t like it. They like living here.
I think it is incumbent on us to make sure our financial house is in order so we’re not the next Detroit or New York City in the Seventies. We need to make sure we’re taking in the money we’re supposed to be taking in. We need to make sure that we’re operating as efficiently as possible.
We need to look for ways to save money. Some of those things, environmentally, might be looking at ways to cut back on our use of oil. Maybe we go solar. Maybe we look at the efficiency of the town hall. Is it worth saving or fixing? Do we need to replace it? Is it an energy pit?
Those are the kinds of things you need to do to gradually bring about change. Change is not ever an easy thing. I’m a firm believer that if you focus on change, you’ll see results.
Susan Zimet
NPT: Why did you decide to run for office?
SZ: I decided to run for office again to complete many projects that I started during my recent two-year term as town supervisor. I believe that with another term I can work to make New Paltz an even better and more affordable place to live by continuing to reduce taxes while enhancing recreational opportunities and making New Paltz a leader in sustainability.
Much of my past term was devoted to sorting out serious financial issues facing the town. My administration managed the 2012 budget that we inherited from the previous administration. We saved approximately half-a-million dollars by implementing tight oversight measures, which I established when I first took office. We crafted a 2013 budget that cut spending by approximately $400,000. With smart policy decisions, we reduced real-property taxes by 4.4 percent. In total, my administration saved the New Paltz taxpayers $1.5 million. Moving forward, over the next two years I will work with the town board to implement new measures using the power of our local government to continue to reduce property taxes.
With our financial house in order, I would like to serve another term as town supervisor to enhance recreational opportunities and to make New Paltz a leader in sustainability. Now more than ever as we face climate change, we need to work together on the local level to achieve sustainability, lessen our carbon footprint, promote our local farms, build a robust ecotourism sector and create more opportunities for solar and energy efficiency.
One of the projects that I want to complete that will cut our carbon emissions and enhance recreational opportunities is the completion of a bike path from downtown New Paltz out to the mountains, with a future extension to the Ulster County Fairgrounds. My goal is to make New Paltz a more bike-friendly community with a greater level of connectivity throughout the town over the next two years.
But sustainability is about more than just the environment. It’s about the quality of our lives and how we treat each other. I’m hoping that this term can be a time when civility, respect and cooperation can guide our community in moving forward and making progress.
NPT: Should Park Point get a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) – yes or no? Also, how should New Paltz be developed in the future? Should it be kept more rural, or should it be more built out? What kind of businesses would you work to attract to town?
SZ: I have spent the last 20 years working on property-tax reform. I believe everyone should pay their fair share of taxes. It is extremely unfair for profitable corporations to count as profit the tax expense it saves when the Pilot program shifts this expense onto the backs of the current taxpayers.
If it were at my discretion, I wouldn’t allow this tax break, but it is not my decision. There is policy in place that allows them to apply for and possibly receive a payment in lieu of taxes. The town board does not have the authority to stop this application process, but we have made our intentions clear to the presiding authority. I am a big supporter of the college, and I invite SUNY New Paltz to work with the town in our mission to reduce the tax burden on property owners rather than increase it.
As for how New Paltz should be developed in the future, I believe that the rural areas of the town should remain rural and that a robust, business-friendly downtown area is in all of our best interests.
Development of the Route 299 corridor – along with development in general – should be part of the joint village and town comprehensive plan process. We need a deliberate approach to managed growth consistent with the community’s needs and preferences. Of course, any development of the Route 299 corridor would be limited in scope given the significant wetlands that run along the corridor. As town supervisor, I have been a strong advocate to protect our wetlands and will continue to do so with any development on the Route 299 corridor or elsewhere.
If re-elected, I would like the town to attract businesses that provide well-paying jobs to our residents and a stronger tax base to our town. I will actively work to invite businesses that will advance our desire to create a sustainable community in New Paltz – both financially and environmentally – including renewable energy companies.
I would also like to work to attract eco-tourism businesses to our town. Many people visit New Paltz for the natural beauty and wonder of our area and I believe this is an important part of our culture. I would like to work to attract ecotourism businesses that can provide visitors with the experience of enjoying our environment while becoming educated on the importance of protecting it. And building our tourism sector will also increase business for our existing downtown businesses.
Finally, I would like to work with the college to find ways for graduating students to stay here in our community and start up beneficial entrepreneurial businesses.
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