LOCAL • INDEPENDENT • FREE Volume 16
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Issue 9
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March 4 – March 10, 2022
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saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com
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518- 581-2480
Caroline Street After Dark A Decades-long Dilemma for City Officials, Residents, and Tourism Advocates by Thomas Dimopoulos Saratoga TODAY
Caroline Street at night. Photo by John Seymour.
Prosperity Partnership Sent Packing SARATOGA COUNTY — The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership has voted to cease operations after eight years of competition with the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC). The disagreements over the county’s economic development strategies began back in 2013, when the SEDC denied the then Saratoga County Board of Supervisors request to appoint elected officials to their board. The Board of Supervisors promptly
ended their connections with the SEDC, and the Prosperity Partnership, led by county lawmakers, was founded in 2014. On Monday, Feb. 28, the Board of Supervisors of the Prosperity Partnership made the decision to cease their efforts following the resignation of organization employees, including President and CEO Shelby Schneider who left to join the New York State Economic Development Council (NYSEDC) as Deputy Director in June of 2021. See Story pg. 12
Bar. Bar. Restaurant & Bar. Pizza joint. Car lot. Bar. Tavern. Bar, bar, bar. There are at least 16 venues that boast a variety of libations in the imbibing emporium that
sprawls across the westernmost part of Caroline Street and its adjacent pedestrian thoroughfares. Nestled in a concentrated terrain of downtown Saratoga Springs, it has showcased a party-like atmosphere for several decades. For nearly as long it has drawn the ire of some city leaders and the public alike, each making calls to tamp down the festivities. See Story pg. 9
Sales Tax Surges by Thomas Dimopoulos Saratoga TODAY SARATOGA SPRINGS — The City Council on March 1 gathered for their first meeting in a long while inside the firstfloor chamber room at City Hall, where Mayor Ron Kim began the meeting with the standard Salute To The Flag and requested all in attendance remain standing for a Moment of Silence in observation of the people of Ukraine. • Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi reported the final Sales Tax figures for 2021 at just
under $15 million. “This is really good news,” Sanghvi said. “That is about $5 million over our 2021 revised budget and surpassed 2019 by 11.5% and surpassed 2020 by 35.3%. “Truly astounding numbers and we all should be very pleased.” Of the cities that impose their own sales tax (not including New York City), Saratoga Springs had the strongest year-overyear increase of 32.5%, followed by Norwich (27.8%) and Ithaca (23.4%), according to a statement issued in February by NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. See Story pg. 10
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