Niskayuna’s 2012 budget plans have moved steadily along with no changes, but after a recent public hearing it became clear not all town leaders are on the same page.
The Niskayuna Town Board held a hearing on the 2012 Preliminary Budget on Thursday, Nov. 10. The budget proposal is unchanged from the previously proposed tentative budget, totaling nearly $13.25 million, which is a roughly $240,000 increase from 2011’s spending. The board is set to vote on the budget during its Thursday, Nov. 17, meeting.
The town isn’t slated to use any money from its fund balance or reserves in next year’s budget. The town tax rate for residents would be a 2.4 percent increase, with commercial property owners taking a 5 percent increase.
Four full-time positions are slated to be eliminated through attrition — one from the police department, two parks department employees and one highway employee. Three positions are planned to have reduced hours, too.
Supervisor Joe Landry said the town would also be increasing fees, which affects recreation programs and camps among other services, along with starting to charge a fee for the leaf pickup program. Departmental income in the 2012 budget is increasing by $149,100, which mostly consists of recreation program fees and the leaf program. $150,000 in revenue is expected from leaf pick-up fees.
The Youth Recreation Programs budget is increasing by $67,162 in 2012 compared to the 2011 adopted budget, for a total of $192,900.
Councilwoman Julie McDonnell said it may appear the programming budget is growing, but it really isn’t. She said registrations are increasing and revenues are exceeding expenditures for recreation programming and camps. Even with a fee increase she expects registration to continue to grow.
“I don’t want to over raise fees, but our participation grows every year,” McDonnell said. “I think it is just something people expect and they know it is a very good program.”
Councilman Jonathan McKinney said all department budgets are remaining flat or decreasing, except for recreation budget lines. McKinney also sent an email out claiming board members were planning new construction for the recreation department too.
“The Niskayuna Recreation Department is quietly planning on building a $600,000 recreation building at Blatnick Park,” McKinney said in the email. “Can we afford this right now? Moody’s has downgraded our bond rating because of our deteriorating finances; DEC has banned new construction because of our deteriorating infrastructure; and Niskayuna Schools are facing huge budget issues because of the 2 percent tax cap.”
McDonnell said the project isn’t a secret and there were public discussions over the soccer and lacrosse clubs wanting to build a practice space. She also added the project wouldn’t cost $600,000 and added it might only be half of McKinney’s figure. Both clubs she said have raised “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to support building the project.
“When John (McKinney) ran for office he supported this project and represented the clubs bringing forth the initial proposal,” said McDonnell.
McKinney also questioned whether the town is competing with private companies or community groups by offering an array of recreation programs and camps.
“There is a number of private companies in Niskayuna … that are struggling because the town is competing with them,” McKinney said. “Why are we in the business with competing with Niskayuna businesses and then providing services below cost?”
He added the town has an unfair advantage over businesses, too.
“There is no way the town can go out of business. We can lose money every year and still supply a program,” he said. “In these tough economic times … we are jumping in the middle of this competition and charging less than it really cost to run the program.”
McDonnell said she doesn’t believe the town’s programming is harming private companies. She said the camps and programming over the summer aren’t the same as child care centers.
“People don’t use this program like a child care [center] … we are not competing with any child care agency and the camp program has been around for 20 years,” she said. “If you work full time you’re probably not going to be using this program the same way.”
She said the town has been working with private groups to help them and that private groups also run some of the camps for the town.
“I think there is a really good partnership that goes on between the community and the town, she said.
In regards to leaf pickup, Landry said the details are still being worked out on how the fee will be implemented.
McKinney also disagreed with a start to leaf pickup charges, because he said including it in taxes is the easiest method for paying for it.
“Leaves are one of the things you cannot identify who actually uses it,” he said. “The reason we have leaf pick-up is because it is a hazard if you don’t pick them up. Those leaves go down and clog up the storm water pipes and when winter comes they become frozen blocks of ice.”
Landry said he didn’t believe there would a drop off in residents using the leaf pickup service after the fee is eliminated.
