Cardone hopes talks with Palm Tree candidates will begin after Labor Day

By Nancy Kriz
MONROE — Town of Monroe Supervisor Tony Cardone is optimistic that discussions with the recently announced uncontested slate of people running for office in the Town of Palm Tree can begin after Labor Day.
An ongoing concern has been what the bottom-line financial impact will be to Monroe taxpayers now that Palm Tree’s creation has been accelerated by one year to Jan. 1, 2019.
Monroe, like many municipalities, has already begun preliminary work on its 2019 budget, though the process will “really come to fruition in September and October,” with a plan to have a proposed budget finalized by the beginning of November, Cardone said.
Town of Monroe officials initially estimated there could be a $1.5 million impact to taxpayers, due to the loss of revenue from taxpayers who would now become Palm Tree taxpayers in January.
Candidates have until Aug. 31While the Village of Kiryas Joel announced the uncontested slate of candidates last week, Cardone noted interested potential candidates actually do have until the end of August to file petitions to be on the November ballot.
“It looks like the slate is going to be uncontested, but we won’t get confirmation until the end of August,” Cardone said. “The deadline is a procedural thing and I don’t want to jump ahead.”
Cardone said Kiryas Joel Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin reached out to him by email after a recent Photo News story to say he would be interested in beginning a dialogue with the uncontested slate of candidates.
“It’s just a matter of Gedalye’s willingness,” said Cardone. “He does understand my position and I believe he is willing to talk.”
Although it’s not known if any other individuals will file petition to run for office, the current candidates are:
Town Supervisor: Kiryas Joel Mayor Abraham Wieder will appear on the Democrat, Republican and Independence party lines.
Town Board (elect four): Joshua Blumenthal, Isaac Glanzer, Gerson Neuman and Morris Steinberg will appear on the Democrat and Republican lines.
Town Clerk: Szegedin will appear on the Democrat, Republican and Independence Party lines.
Receiver of Taxes: Joel Mertz will appear on the Democrat and Republican lines.
Superintendent of Highways: Zalmen Stern will appear on the Democrat, Republican and Independence Party lines.
Two town justice positions also must be filled.
Streamlining the town budgetThere’s a benefit to conducting the financial negotiations as early as possible, Cardone stressed.
“It would speed the process up and bring it to a conclusion a bit quicker,” he said.
Cardone previously said the town board is in the process of streamlining the budget so that any effect is minimalized, adding the board is looking to reduce the estimated $1.5 million impact substantially.
Cardone also previously said there was a possibility that Palm Tree officials would be interested in some inter-municipal agreements to provide it with a needed provider of select town services and Monroe with revenue.
Both discussing and finalizing the financial issues as soon as possible equally benefits Palm Tree in the creation of its first ever town budget, Cardone added.
“It will also enable both municipalities to finalize anything they would have to in a most efficient way,” he said.
Cardone felt Monroe’s 2019 town budget will be the most realistic and efficient budget the town has seen in years.
“It’s definitely something that hasn't been done in awhile,” he said, noting the town board eliminated the town comptroller position earlier this month.
“This places the control of the budget in the supervisor’s and the town board’s hands,” said Cardone. “I think that with the current finance department we have of two people, they will make this so much more efficient and productive.”