A 2008 preliminary town of Malta budget was accepted by the town council in a special meeting Monday, Oct. 22, but not before tense dialogue about proposed cuts in budget funds for the town clerk’s office.
The spending plan, which has passed through a series of board reviews in the last three weeks and will be subject to at least one public hearing, totals $6,471,547, down from the 2007 town budget of $7,226,052. For the seventh consecutive year, there are no town highway taxes. There are tax levies for the volunteer ambulance service award program and for fire protection, which remain the same or decrease slightly from the current rate. Malta homeowners with an average assessment of $200,000 will pay $135 per year for all town services. The town also has two sewer districts, and users pay costs of maintenance and operation.
Other highlights of the preliminary budget:
The highway department will purchase a pickup truck, brush chipper and enclosed tractor at an estimated cost of $145,000.
$115,000 has been earmarked for continued improvements to town parks and the pedestrian/bicycle trail system.
Town comptrollers have estimated county sales taxes, which remain the largest revenue source, will come in at about $3.5 million, which is $100,000 less than the 2007 fiscal year.
$592,000 is included for street repairs and upgrades.
With a harsh winter predicted, $395,000 is included for snow removal costs.
$455,000 is budgeted for youth and community center services.
Town employees will receive cost of living and merit adjustments on the average of 3.5 percent.
A full-time planner will be hired for the building and planning department.
This is a very conservative budget, said Supervisor Paul Sausville.
Sausville then opened discussion for the `one big elephant in the room,` which was the decrease in the hours of the deputy town clerk from full-time to 20 hours per week, representing a 19 percent decrease in the overall budget for the office of Flo Sickels, full-time town clerk.
`This makes our clerk’s budget, at $60,000, the lowest of any clerk’s in Saratoga County,` said Sausville. `I think it’s irresponsible for the town to be at the lowest level; it’s totally inappropriate.`
Sickels issued a letter on Tuesday, Oct. 23, with her reaction to the discussion.
`The cuts are politically motivated, and the only one truly hurt by the cuts are constituents who will have less service at the clerk’s office,` said Sickels. `I am only left to think that because I am sometimes politically at odds with some of the board that they have decided to exact political retribution through cutting the clerk’s department. There was a similar case in Schenectady a few years ago, and the injured employee brought a political discrimination lawsuit against the City. That employee won. I hope we can put politics aside, and do what is right for good government so we aren’t forced down the path of litigation.`
In 2002, under the leadership of former town supervisor David Meager, the board authorized hiring a part-time deputy clerk to assist in the office. That position was later increased to full-time. Several months ago, board members Cliff Lange and Sue Nolen questioned the hours Sickels was working as town clerk, and whether her employment with Saratoga County was overlapping with her town job. The board members used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain Sickles’ time sheets to review the number of hours she worked in the Malta office. Sickles said the time sheets did not reflect the hours she put in for clerk’s duties in evenings, on weekends or by working through lunch.
At Monday night’s meeting, Lange said he preferred to make his comments on the clerk’s budget during a public hearing. Other board members made a motion to accept the preliminary budget with the cut in the deputy clerk’s hours without further discussion, despite Sausville attempting to read a prepared statement.
`I’m flabbergasted you’d try to muzzle my efforts to speak out about the clerk,` Sausville told the town board. `Her performance is evaluated on Election Day, and she has been elected on a number of occasions. She needs the resources to carry out her job, and by cutting those funds, it shifts the responsibility of the clerk over to the town board.`
Town board members Gerald Winters, Sue Nolen, Cliff Lange and Donna Gizzi voted to accept the preliminary budget and pass it on to a public hearing. Because the proposed cuts to the clerk’s office remained on the table, Sausville voted against accepting the budget draft.
Lange spoke after the meeting with members of the press to explain his position.
`This year, we found out (Sickels) was leaving work to go to another job, and I could see the deputy clerk was doing all the work,` said Lange. `She’s paid $44,000 for 30 hours a week, and legally she can come and go as she likes. We can’t fire her, only the voters can.`
Lange said reducing the hours of the deputy clerk was a move to hone up what he believes is a loosely run office. He also said there had been negotiations back and forth about the budgeted amount for the clerk’s office, and those discussions would likely continue as the board reviews the plan in weeks to come.
Board member Donna Gizzi said she removed herself from discussions about the clerk’s office budget when it began to show signs of a political tug of war.
`This isn’t the way to get things done,` said Gizzi after the meeting.
The 2008 budget draft will go before residents at a public hearing on Thursday, Nov. 8.“