At a special Town Board meeting, Colonie Town Comptroller Craig Blair presented the supervisor, town board members and public with a tentative 2009 budget that represents a total of $86.9 million and a 3 percent tax increase for homeowners.
The increase for homeowners would equal about $2.80 per $1,000 of assessed value, so, for a home assessed at a value of $140,000, the property tax would go up by $11.20.
The tentative budget was composed by a budget committee that consisted of the comptroller, Town Supervisor Paula Mahan, Deputy Supervisor Nancy Hernandez, Director of Planning and Economic Development Joseph LaCivita, Director of Town Operations Peter Gannon and other senior town officials.
The 2009 budget could exclude the Highway Fund tax based on recommendations made by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. In the state comptroller’s recommendations, he suggested the highway fund rate be removed due to improper spending in years past and that the rate could be included in the general fund. In 2008, residents paid a rate of $1.47 per $1,000 of assessed value in the highway fund and commercial property owners paid $1.90 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Last year in the general fund, homeowners paid $1.24 per $1,000 of assessed value, whereas they could pay $2.80 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2009; and commercial property owners paid $1.83 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2008 and could pay $2.64 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2009.
Also in the tentative budget is a change in the Albany County Voter Tax Levy, which will be used to support upcoming elections and implementation of the Help America Vote Act. In this area, residents paid $2.75 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2008 and could pay $2.83 in 2009. Commercial property owners paid $3.63 in 2008 and could pay $2.67 in 2009.
The final, and most controversial, element of the tentative budget is the inclusion of a one-time corrective tax, which the supervisor said should generate nearly $6 million to pay down the town’s deficit.
As of last month, town auditors put the deficit at $19.4 million.
For the one-time tax, both homeowners and commercial property owners would be taxed $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, resulting in 93 percent of residents in the town paying below $250.
According to Blair, with this budget, the town can continue to be regarded as one of the lowest tax communities in the region.
Mahan said that she was very pleased that the town could present residents with only a 3 percent increase over last year’s budget, one that represents a 5.3 percent decrease over the actual expenses of 2007 that totaled $91.8 million.
Republican Councilwoman Nicole Criscione-Szesnat said she felt that a portion of the tentative budget explanation `sounds like a campaign piece.`
The supervisor said, `It’s unfortunate that we have to ask [the one-time tax] of our taxpayers, but we have to stabilize. It’s hard to ask people for money.`
Mahan said the revenue generated by the one-time tax will be used to pay off the town’s deficit, and that language in the tentative budget stipulates it may only be applied to 2009.
Residents will be given an opportunity to ask questions and make comments on the tentative budget at a public hearing scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 16. The final version of the budget will be voted on at the Town Board Meeting on Thursday, Nov. 6.“