At a special presentation of the preliminary budget Tuesday, Sept. 23, Guilderland officials cited high fuel costs and an unstable economy as cause for the conservative approach to the 2009 budget.
Town Supervisor Ken Runion said the town is not planning too many new projects, and is proposing a lean budget, for next year. He said the town is going to focus on `maintenance` rather than expansion.
`Revenue streams are tight,` Runion said. `We’ve put together a very conservative budget. We know people do not want to pay more taxes.`
Runion said the town has concerns about seeing less revenue from mortgage taxes, something that has yielded strong income in the past. Runion said new home purchases and refinancing are down from recent years.
Runion also cited `the uncertainty of the economy,` as cause for the conservative approach.
`It’s a tough time to be doing a budget,` he said.
The town, though, does have at least one expense it no longer needs to deal with — Town Hall was paid off with the final bond of a 20-year payment completed this year.
Runion said the bond was close to $185,000 for the year.
Councilwoman Patricia Slavick said her biggest concern is the town’s emergency services.
She said the town is not planning to cut the budget on any services but is concerned with energy costs.
She also said she is hopeful the town will not need to raise taxes.
Councilman Warren Redlich cautioned that the board must be careful when hammering out a budget, not only when times are bad, but when they are good as well.
`We need to be careful not to waste taxpayers’ money,` he said.
Redlich said the town could save hundreds of thousands of dollars if it makes some changes.
Redlich gave the example of Tawasentha Park, which charges non-residents $20 to park.
`Nobody knows how much revenue that generates,` he said.
He said the security guards there are town employees with benefits and wages that cost more than the town collects from the fees. Redlich cited DiCaprio Park as an example of a park that does not have security guards and said it is wrong for the town to pick and choose where they will charge for town services and where they will not.
`Let’s not nickel and dime people over using town services,` he said.
He agreed with Runion that fuel costs make the budget process difficult, and it will make it hard not to raise taxes.
He said he is also hopeful that the budget will allow for new recreational equipment for some of the parks in the town.
`I’m hopeful that we can upgrade the playground equipment in Tawasentha Park,` Redlich said.
He said the equipment there is 20 years old.
`I have pressure from a key constituent in my home,` Redlich joked about his family.
Councilman Mark Grimm said he is concerned with fee increases on public services. Grimm wants to find out how many fees there are and how much they will be raised.
He added that the town brings in close to $10 million in sales tax, but is worried that consumer spending may decline in coming months.
He said he wants to make sure the budget accounts for a potential decline in revenue.
Grimm also said he is pushing to make a copy of the budget available on the Internet.
Councilman Paul Pastore addressed the need to increase the fees. Pastore said the fees have not been raised in a while, and said now is a good time to do so.
He said it is better to levy the fees, rather than raise taxes since fees only apply to those who use a particular service.
Pastore added that the delicate economy will be a factor in the proceedings from here on out.
`A lot of people are walking on eggshells,` he said. `We have to ride out the storm.`
The town’s `conservative` project list for the 2009 fiscal year involves a $600,000 drainage project for McKownville to alleviate flooding problems near Stuyvesant Plaza. The project will be funded by member item money, Stuyvesant Plaza and state funds.
Plans include the replacement of a small section of pipe that constricts water flow due to its inadequate size, town officials said. The town is also planning to increase the holding capacity of the McKownville Reservoir by 500,000 gallons.
Stuyvesant Plaza had three floods this year, but with the improvements, the commercial center should have as few as one flood every 10 years, Runion said.
The New York State Department of Transportation and Delaware Engineering are spearheading the effort.
Runion added that some projects from earlier years are going to have an impact the 2009 budget.
Sewer upgrades on Nott Road costing $11 million from 2006, and upgrades in water treatment as a result of federal requirements totaling $2.3 million, and a long-term project, spanning 2008-2009 designed to cut chlorine costs and improve water quality for properties toward the end of the water line, need to be accounted for.
Several of the town’s costs have seen dramatic increases in recent years, and will continue to rise into 2009. Health-care costs from the town’s provider, CDPHP, are expected to rise by 14.5 percent, according to the budget presentation.
`It’s a pretty substantial increase,` Runion said. `It’s been like that for quite some time. Escalating well above the rate of inflation.`
Health-care costs peaked for the town in 2007 at $1.7 million, he said.
Runion said the town has tried increasing deductibles and co-payments to help alleviate some of the stress.
Another expense comes from the New York state retirement fund, which has seen losses due to instability on Wall Street.
Runion also said the `financial crisis` that has gone on in the past few weeks, has caused the New York state retirement fund to suffer, and expectations are that Guilderland will need to contribute $1.2 million in 2009, and even more than that in 2010 as a result.
The retirement fund looks for an 8 percent rate of return, Runion said, and if it is not achieved the state takes a larger cut from the municipalities.
The final budget must be voted on by all five members of the Town Board and must be presented before the public before it becomes officially adopted.“