Even though Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle claimed he was not planning on raising taxes over the state mandated cap, residents expressed their anger over the fact the board was even considering it.
Several residents got up to speak out against the board’s consideration to override the tax levy established by the New York State Legislature earlier this year. Many were claiming the town board did not have the interests of the residents in mind, was violating the faith of the cap and even calling them “scumbag politicians.”
“I’m very much against the idea for a law to override the tax cap,” said resident Shauna Thompson. “I don’t think it’s a good idea and I am speaking very much against it.”
Another resident, Larry Schwartz, even suggested some of his own solutions the town could do to avoid having the raise taxes. He suggested eliminating any luxury services the town provides, such as the roadside leaf pickup, as he believes that it is something many of the residents could be doing themselves
“It’s a luxury,” he said. “During hard economic times, I’m perfectly willing to take care of weeds and clippings. Why not just take individual responsibility and do it on your own… it’s the perfect example of a luxury service. If you went through the budget, you’d probably find more, too.”
Koetzle tried to quell the fervor of the crowd by letting them know that the town is merely considering passing it to use the override in case of an emergency. All of the town board members said they had no plans of raising taxes past the cap.
Town Attorney Michael Cuevas explained that it was his suggestion that the town might want to have this tool at its disposal after looking at the preliminary numbers. He said because of the amount of time it takes to have an action such as passing an override approved by the New York State Department of State, the town might want to get started now.
“If you want to have it as a tool, you must get the ball rolling as far as putting it as a local law on the agenda,” Cuevas said. “It doesn’t mean the board needed to adopt it.”
When it came time for Koetzle to address the crowd and the board, he explained that what the board was doing was merely trying to prevent the town from going into a more harrowing economic condition. He said what has prevented taxes from going up in the past was the amount the board would dip into the fund balance. In 2010, the town allocated $1.3 million. That number was reduced the following year by $200,000 to $1.1 million. This year, he said the town is proposing to reduce the number again by $350,000, which would have the town allocating only $850,000.
He said he also asked Town Comptroller George Phillips to project out 5 years as to what the town’s financial situation would be. Koetale said while health insurance costs are $1.8 million now, they could be $3 million in 2017. Retirement is projected to go from $1 million to $1.3 million, contractual expenses would go up from $2.5 million to $3 million and salaries would go from $5.5 million to $6 million. With all of this happening, he said revenue were only expected to go from $5 million to $5.3 million.
“This is why we’re protecting the town against long term implications of the fund balance drying up,” Koetzle said. “It’s why we made the decision to back off the fund balance as opposed to providing tax relief because I believe we’re going to get hit hard.”
