Oneida County Legislature: Drunken Sailors

Once the sewer issue brought attention to the County's machinations, a look was taken at some other spending on the County Legislature's docket from just this past week. We won't even go into the six-figure salaries with increases exceeding the cost of living that O.C. Taxpayers are paying to some of their employees.

Look at the spending for the new County Airport:

• $7.45 Million for corporate and "T" hangars and a "fuel farm" ($1M from State grants)
• $0.73 Million for taxiway reconstruction and a closed circuit TV system ($700,000 from the state)
• $9.72 Million for "various redevelopment projects" at Griffiss ($9.47 M from grants)
• $7.60 Million for "reconstruction of Hangar Building #100"
• $1.99 Million for equipment
• $1.41 Million for paving
• $0.69 Million for fence replacement and gate removal

There was a lot of other spending this past week, too, including another $748,000 on Union Station (with the state paying 90%); $1.85 Million for "Parking Lot Improvements" at the County Office Building in Utica (wonder if the County will try to shove the Park Ave closure down Uticans' throats again); and $210K to demolish buildings at the Old County Airport (wonder what they are knocking down, and why?).

Does this look like a county that is in dire financial straits?

But, with all this voluntary spending that the County is taking on, the County Executive has the nerve to criticize $2 million in costs shifted by the state to the county (let's ignore what the State gives us on the discretionary spending).

Of course the Utica Media is M.I.A. on all this spending. What's up with that?

The Sentinel (relatively dependable when coverage of County news is concerned) reports that debt service will rise to $14.2 Million. That's almost $61 for every man, woman, and child in OC every year until the bonds are paid off. With debt reaching $114.1 Million, that means we are approaching almost $500 debt for every person in the County!

Time to round up these drunken sailors and ship them off to Timbuktu!