Rolison proposes $2.2M purchase amid $5.5M deficit, city layoffs

Poughkeepsie, NY - Facing the largest recession in a generation, a $5.5M budget shortfall, an impending housing crisis, an ongoing public health crisis, and recommending layoffs of city workers, Mayor Rolison is pushing for a minimum $2.2M purchase and renovation of the Italian Center property. The proposal from Mayor Rolison was delivered to the Common Council, the legislative body of the City of Poughkeepsie, with only days to review before seeking to force a vote on the purchase. However, even with limited time to review the project documents, members of the Common Council have pointed out that the proposed deal has been handed to them with little research or effort in its preparation.

“This proposed purchase demonstrates a lack of fiscal restraint, a lack of respect to our taxpayers, and is a misuse of City resources at a time when the city is faced with a dire financial outlook as we enter what is predicted to be the worst economic downturn in our history”, stated Common Council Chair Sarah Salem. “To make a major purchase like this without doing our due diligence would be irresponsible. The Mayor’s administration has been working on this deal for months and they waited until the final hour to bring their proposition to the Common Council, the determining body as if it was an afterthought.”

Common Council Vice Chair Sarah Brannen concurred with Chair Salem, characterizing the proposal as a misuse of public funds and a failure without having completed any assessment of the property.

“The preliminary report from the City Engineer shows serious concerns with the building’s appropriateness for the desired uses, and says that the circa 1870 building is not ADA compliant”, stated Common Council Vice Chair Sarah Brannen. “They didn’t even complete an inspection of the property before making an offer. Would you buy a house without an inspection? Would we be good stewards of public monies to do the same? We were just rated the sixth most fiscally stressed municipality in the state. The taxpayers deserve greater fiscal responsibility than what the mayor is proposing.”

While the Mayor’s proposal claims that the purchase of the Italian Center will create a cost savings by “streamlining city services”, Member of the Common Council Finance Committee Evan Menist took the past week to review the numbers in the Mayor’s proposal, and called out the administration for making accounting errors in their assessment. “I took some time to sit down with the economic assessment created by the Mayor’s office, and the numbers just do not add up”, said Finance Committee member and Second Ward Councilmember Evan Menist. “This assessment attributes costs to the city that we don’t actually pay for, assumes inappropriate speculation about the future value of the property, and has fudged the numbers to make this proposal look like a cost savings. In actuality, it is entirely possible the taxpayers will be on the hook for millions of their dollars lost. This isn’t just an impulse buy, its bad math.”

The City of Poughkeepsie has previously announced that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a loss of revenues that have created a $5.5 million budget shortfall - causing the city council to approve 15% cuts to city departments across the board while cutting 20% of their own budget in solidarity with other departments. A recent proposal from the Mayor’s administration seeks to lay off five current city workers, move full-time staff to part-time schedules, and cut dozens of other currently vacant jobs from city hall.

Common Council Majority Leader Lorraine Johnson expressed outrage at the idea of spending millions on the Italian Center while the city contemplates laying off workers, and while plans for a new Youth Center have languished.“For the Mayor’s administration to recommend that we lay off our hardworking city employees in one breath, and then turn around and ask us for millions of dollars to make an impulse buy like this is inconceivable”, stated Majority Leader Johnson. “If we are capable of finding millions of dollars for the Italian Center, then we can surely find money to build a new Youth Center for our children.”

A special meeting of the Common Council has been called for Thursday, July 16 at 6:30 pm to vote on the Mayor’s proposal to purchase the Italian Center and to approve a bond for $2.2 million to cover the cost of the project. Citizens who wish to express their opinion on the proposal can register in advance for the meeting by visiting https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6YPLosaJTQe1LQajvArOzA and can sign up to speak during Public Participation by emailing Common Council Chair Sarah Salem at ssalem@cityofpoughkeepsie.com, or by emailing City Chamberlain Deanne Flynn at dflynn@cityofpoughkeepsie.com by Thursday, July 16th prior to 5:30 pm.

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For more information please email ssalem@cityofpoughkeepsie.com