Residents get preview of town finances
Christopher Koetzle, supervisor for the Town of Glenville, held two public meetings presenting the town’s 2011 Tentative Budget, with one at the Glenville Senior Center on Thursday, Sept. 2, and another at the Glenville Municipal Center on Thursday, Sept. 9. The presentations covered town budget history, trends, goals, challenges, and the upcoming budget. There was also a comment period after each presentation.
I know this board can sit down and give you a budget that is acceptable, said Koetzle during the Sept. 9 presentation. `My job, if I do nothing else, is to be the guy that stands up and says, ‘This is the trend,’ and that is what I am doing here tonight.`
When preparing the budget, Koetzle said he looked at what trends could affect the town until 2016, and it didn’t paint the best picture.
A unique element to Glenville is how the proportion of the tax burden is distributed compared to other local municipalities. Most municipalities have residents bearing 60 percent of the tax burden, according to Koetzle, but Glenville residents bear a larger portion.
`Our portion of the tax burden is too high on residents,` said Koetzle. `We are burdened a little more than other towns.`
Koetzle said the town doesn’t have a strong business base, which will be a problem continuing into the future. Establishing the town as a destination location and not drive-though location is vital to attracting businesses.
Health insurance is another concern, said Koetzle, with an estimated cost of $2.1 million in 2011, which is a $300,000 increase from 2010. Also, retirement costs are estimated to increase by $52,000 in 2011 to a total cost of $980,000.
`Health insurance is a killer if we don’t control that line, then we are not controlling anything,` said Koetzle.
One idea he had for health insurance was to give municipal employees an allotted amount of money every year and then employees could choose their own health insurance.
`I do not diminish what our employees do at all, but our obligation is to our taxpayers,` said Koetzle. `I don’t think there is a lot to cut in staff. We want to maintain services.`
He also said previous Town Boards have dug into the fund balance, using around $1 million a year, to help cover the gap and ease residents’ tax burden. He said if the town continues to do this then the fund balance would run out and there would be a massive tax increase.
`There is no way that we can continue to do business the way we do,` said Koetzle. `We’ve got to look at how do we stop these trends.`
Mortgage tax revenue has also been going down, and Koetzle said he doesn’t expect the housing market to pick up anytime soon. Also, the sales tax revenue has been stagnate for years. The County controls the amount of sales tax the municipalities receive.
`I’m very impressed the ways you are looking out to the problem to 2016,` said Ray Germain, a 48-year Glenville resident, after the Sept. 9 presentation. `I think we need to think about different ways to share the cost.`
Further budget hearings will be held in October and November as the budget process continues, concluding with the town’s adopted budget planned for Nov.17.
Click the link below to view Koetzle’s slideshow presentation.
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