The Town of Ballston adopted a final budget proposal for 2009 at the Thursday, Nov. 6, meeting of the Town Board. The budget weighs in at $6.26 million, a nearly $600,000 increase from last year’s offering.
The budget will require no town or highway taxes, and town officials say it holds the line on spending while taking into account the rising price of fuel, decreased state funding and an expected lackluster county sales tax take.
It’s a pretty austere budget, said Supervisor Patti Southworth at Thursday’s meeting, where there was a public hearing before a unanimous vote.
The town did not include in the budget roughly $1 million of work that must be completed in Water District No. 2, though. The town’s northern water tower is in need of repainting at a cost of $300,000 to $400,000, and to bring Saratoga County Water Authority water to the town, a pump station must be built at an estimated cost of $600,000.
It is likely that when those projects are tackled, users in the water district will absorb the cost, but financing is just one issue that must be addressed.
Last year ` under the previous town board and supervisor ` the town signed a contract to buy 375,000 gallons of water per day from the Saratoga County Water Authority for a period of 10 years, becoming the largest municipal buyer in the system. When Ballston’s water contract with Glenville was extended in 2002, however, a clause allowing the town to withdraw was also removed. It effectively puts Ballston on the hook to buy 350,000 gallons per year from Glenville until 2022.
County water is to come cheaper, at $2.05 per 1,000 gallons as opposed to Glenville’s rate of $2.35. But the booster pump station must be built near the intersection of Eastline Road and Route 67, first.
Councilwoman and member of the Water Authority Mary Beth Hynes said that she was `shocked` by the $600,000 estimate for the pump station, quoted by the town’s engineer, CT Male Associates. Under former Supervisor Ray Callanan’s tenure, the price was figured closer to $100,000. Regardless of price, officials aren’t certain exactly when or how the station will be paid for.
Southworth said the project was held from the 2009 budget because it would raise taxes on water district users by over $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.
`There’s really no way you can do that in these economic times,` said Southworth. Bonding the price over five to 10 years would soften the blow to those in Water District No. 2, and is a possibility.
At the public hearing, a number of residents stood to denounce the town’s planning when it comes to water service.
`The entire water system was consistently presented to the town residents as having no extra cost to the taxpayers,` said Paul Simpson. `Now, we are being asked to fund a $600,000 item, which was apparently forgotten about in the board’s rush to sign on with the county and be one of the good guys.`
Resident Arnold Palmer said he was concerned about the long-term impact of bonding the projects.
`I don’t think we need to become another Colonie,` he said, citing a nearby town with a $19.4 million deficit.
Ballston officials said that buying water from two suppliers is a feasible proposition. Glenville water currently serves over 1,800 homes, and new developments mean another 500 are on the way.
`There are people in the Town of Ballston who are served by Glenville water who will never be served by Saratoga County,` said Councilman Jim Briaddy.
According to Hynes, the real problem is the ad valorem tax charged in the Glenville contract, which costs Ballston $169,00 per year. If that can be negotiated out of the contract, she said that county water will probably equate to a cost savings to the town.
Residents at the meeting wondered why Ballston is not already negotiating with Glenville, considering the situation has been known for over one year.
`They were under the impression I would just take care of it myself,` said Southworth.
She said that she wanted a consensus from the entire board on what the course of action should be, however, and that consensus was delivered on Thursday when the board voted to empower Southworth to approach Glenville in hopes of negotiating an end to the tax or changing the contract altogether. Southworth said she had placed a call to Glenville Supervisor Frank Quinn, but had not heard back from his office.
The SCWA aims to turn on the tap of county water in fall of 2009. The town officials Spotlight Newspapers spoke to said they were not sure whether the start of the contract with the authority would be flexible if the pump station is not in place in time. The town attorney, Murry Brower, was out of town and could not be reached by press time.
The town will also put off a much-needed painting of the water tower, also in part because of its large expense.
Cell phone antennas will have to be pulled off the structure and mounted on a temporary monopole during the project, which may require an easement. If all the pieces come together, though, the town could amend the 2009 budget and begin the project.
The town board said they will be following the numbers as the year goes by, especially since the amount of county sales tax to come in is not yet known, and a low take could spell trouble.
`Because we don’t have a town tax, we live off of mortgage tax and sales tax,` said Hynes.
The town budgeted $514,805 in county sales tax (a one percent increase) and $355,000 in mortgage tax revenues.“
