Town supervisors in Schenectady County have submitted their first tentative budgets under the new property tax cap, but the pain isn’t felt equally across town lines.
Rotterdam’s Tentative 2012 Budget proposed by Supervisor Frank DelGallo isn’t easy to swallow with 13 proposed layoffs stretching town employees further. An additional three jobs would also be trimmed through attrition, bringing the total to 16 cut positions. Niskayuna and Glenville aren’t seeking layoffs, but Niskayuna is cutting four full-time positions through attrition and Glenville is similarly cutting three full-time and two part-time positions through attrition.
All three budgets do come in below the state’s 2 percent property tax cap, after allowable cap adjustments for growth factors and state pension rates, but the tax levy increases for each town are above 2 percent. To get around the tax cap, a town board needs to propose a local law to override the constraint, hold a public hearing and then vote at least 3-2 in approval of the override.
Both Glenville and Niskayuna are holding public hearings to override the cap, but Rotterdam has yet to bring the option forward. Requirements for public notice and procedures for adopting a local law pushed the two towns to make sure the option is not lost.
Glenville Supervisor Christopher Koetzle and Niskayuna Supervisor Joe Landry have both stated the public hearing to undo the tax cap is only to keep the choice available.
“I’m going to recommend to the Town Board, just to preserve their rights and allow them that option, … they should also pass a resolution at the Oct. 13 meeting calling for a hearing on a budget override,” said Landry. “It doesn’t say you have to do a budget override … you can head in the direction of the 2 percent tax cap.”
Rotterdam’s bleak budget
DelGallo’s proposed $20.1 million 2012 budget for Rotterdam holds an increase of $835,000 over the 2011 modified budget and a tax levy increase of 2.83 percent, which does fall within the tax cap after allowed adjustments. The town’s fund balance usage is set for a drastic decline with about $800,000 set for 2012, a 50 percent reduction from 2011.
Ending the reliance on fund balance usage was important, DelGallo said, because the town would run it dry shortly if it continued previous allocations. Town Comptroller Anthony Tangarone said he hopes the fund balance at the end of 2011 totals $2.3 million, but DelGallo said the town would be “lucky” if it stays above $2 million.
The budget also doesn’t take into account any possible costs from flooding damage sustained during Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. Initial town official estimates are around $300,000 for the blow town funds will receive.
Department head requests for the 2012 budget totaled nearly $22 million, but the tentative budget holds almost $800,000 in cuts.
Opening Rotterdam’s Tentative 2012 Budget yielded a surprise on the first two lines for board members. DelGallo had removed all four board member salaries for a total savings of $41,500.
DelGallo transferred his supervisor salary of $13,000 to town projects in 2010 and 2011 — senior center kitchen repairs and a new veteran memorial — but this time he went after the entire board’s compensation. No board members voiced any opinions on this move, but Diane Marco, Democrat candidate for town clerk, shared her bafflement.
“The entire Town Board will have a zero salary in your budget?” Marco asked DelGallo. “What an embarrassment.”
His justification for cutting the board’s salary was to keep one town employee position.
“There ain’t nobody up here that needs money,” DelGallo responded. “It’s easier to keep one man working than it is to give somebody a little bit of money.”
The Town Planning Commission stipends remained unchanged, totaling $29,000 for the seven-person board. Also, the Town Zoning Board of Appeals stipends were unchanged at $11,000 for the five-person board.
The Rotterdam Police Department is set to see a shrinking staff with DelGallo planning to demote three detectives back to patrolmen and lay off three patrolmen.
Rotterdam Police Chief James Hamilton said he hadn’t heard of such cuts before the meeting and said DelGallo had told him two detective positions were up for elimination. Overall, the police budget was reduced by over $200,000 compared to the 2011 modified budget.
Earlier in the meeting Town Comptroller Anthony Tangarone said not all department heads were aware of the proposed cuts before the budget was released.
“It is going to be a combination of some surprised and some not surprised,” said Tangarone. “The department heads are very well aware these cuts are on the line.”
Councilwoman Nicola DiLeva wasn’t pleased all department heads weren’t aware of the proposed cuts.
“I have a big problem with that,” she said.
DelGallo said an effort was made to spread cuts out evenly between all departments. Tangarone echoed his comments and said it will be a tough budget for every department.
“This is very painful … every department is suffering pain in this process. In order to get under the 2 percent tax cap limitation major alterations were needed,” said Tangarone. “This year is probably going to be as painful as next year. Things need to be looked at not only in just this year’s budget, but also going into the future.”
Senior programming in the town received an almost 50 percent reduction in funding compared to the modified 2011 budget, which held cuts nearing $85,000. The Brass Rail cafeteria at the center would be shut down and funding for 17 part-time positions is removed, which totals $30,500 in requested funds.
Ron Severson, chairman for the town Parks and Recreation Commission, said the parks and recreation programs in the town under the proposed budget would face drastic cuts of around $150,000.
“To gut the entire parks and recreation program I think is deplorable,” said Severson. “I know times are tough, but to completely gut that, what does that leave for the quality of life in our town?”
Councilman Wayne Calder commented on how other municipalities were able to come under the tax cap without layoffs proposed.
“I find it difficult to comprehend that the City of Schenectady, the Town of Niskayuna and the Town of Glenville can all stay under 2 percent and not lay anybody off,” said Calder. “Is there some reason why we’re in so much trouble compared to everybody else?”
Tangarone said it is a “simple answer:” he believed the towns are staffed much lighter compared to Rotterdam and the towns haven’t depleted their fund balances as drastically over the last few years.
Glenville freezes new hires
Before Glenville Supervisor Christopher Koetzle even released his budget, he announced a six-month hiring freeze to reap savings.
“[The] hiring freeze is currently for six months and we will reevaluate it at that point if we are going to extend it or proceed from there,” said Koetzle.
The three full-time positions and two part-time positions reduced through attrition in Glenville’s Tentative 2012 Budget and the hiring freeze would result in a savings of $147,000. Other cuts in the budget are $76,000 to the Highway Department’s paving and equipment, $10,000 to the leaf pick-up program while continuing service, $12,000 from non-town run programs and reducing overtime expenses by $10,000.
“I tried to make sure the cuts were in places that would have the least impact to town services,” Koetzle said. “It doesn’t mean we are not going to be challenged to try to find ways to do things differently.”
The 2012 budget currently totals nearly $11.6 million, which is $154,490 less than the 2011 adopted budget, and holds a tax levy increase of 3.2 percent. The 2011 budget held a residential tax increase of 4.7 percent. Fund balance usage is also dropping again, but at a faster rate than town officials previous planned to reduce it by 15 percent for several years.
The 2012 budget would allocate around $800,000. The board previously allocated $1.1 million from the fund balance in 2011, which reduced it by roughly $200,000 compared to 2010.
Koetzle said town departments are currently staffed to “peak needs” and the practice isn’t sustainable with economic limitations of rising state-mandated costs and revenues not keeping pace with expenses. Cross-training employees will be the key to reaching a new town operations plan, he said.
“We have no choice, we can no longer staff departments at the level they used to be,” he said. “We can no longer afford each department in the town to have its own staff. We have people that can float between the departments based on the needs of whatever particular point.”
He realizes the initiative could take a little while for town employees to “feel comfortable,” but he said it would make the town more efficient moving forward.
Concessions from unions cut about $150,00 in projected health insurance costs for 2012, said Koetzle, which rested on pay increases totaling around 2 percent.
“We found that the concessions the unions gave us in the last round of negotiations is starting to pay off,” he said. “We have to thank the unions for stepping up and helping us achieve some health insurance savings.”
Energy savings will also help the town in 2012, because town officials said there is a potential for $70,000 in savings due to negotiating for lower electricity rates. Solar panels, which were installed on the Town Hall roof recently, are estimated to bring in additional savings of $6,000.
Koetzle said he tried to make cuts even across all departments.
“I went into that budget and I cut across the board in every department,” he said.
Although, he added, the constant cutting will have to stop sometime and maybe in the near future.
“One of these years the cutting has to stop … I believe we are at that point now,” he said. “At some point local governments are going to go out of business.”
Niskayuna dangles increased fees
Staying under the proposed tax cap in Niskayuna could have increased fees for recreation activities and other town services.
Supervisor Joe Landry’s Tentative 2012 Budget does fall within the tax cap, according to state guidelines even though the tax levy increase of about 3.4 percent is larger than in Rotterdam or Glenville. Landry’s budget totals almost $13.25 million, which increases spending by $235,455 compared to the approved 2011 budget.
Landry said he started the budget process by telling department heads to keep everything the same as 2011 to see what increases the town had no control over, which was around $300,000 worth.
“I’m starting from a deficit before I even sit down,” Landry said. “You have to either cut or increase revenues somehow or a combination, so I’ve done a combination of things.”
The first step eliminated four full-time positions through attrition, which were one from the police department, two parks department employees and one highway employee. Three positions are slated to have reduced hours.
Landry is also looking at having a private company “rent” out the driving range, keeping all revenue and maintaining the facility, so the service would still be available.
“The driving range would still be there, still be provided to the residents. We wouldn’t have to hire, take care of it and mow it, someone else would and we would just be a landlord,” Landry said. “You can’t lose on that.”
In addition, he is looking in the smaller operations of an outside group running the concessions at the town’s pool, with the same “rent” procedure.
Town recreation programs are set to bring in the most new revenue from increased fees, but Landry is also looking at adjusting fees for home alarm systems tied to the police department, among other fees.
“There is a variety of fees that are going to be adjusted and upgraded,” Landry said. “We are looking at the final numbers soon, but we always have the big ones, we have all the recreation programs.”
One new fee proposed for 2012 would involve charging for lawn debris services, involving leaf pick-up.
The constraints of the tax cap are what pushed Landry to seek new sources for revenue.
“We are under all these constraints of keeping a 2 percent tax cap and those are the ways I am addressing the budget,” Landry said. “We may be able to reach that magic number of 2 percent, or we may not.”
