After making minor changes to its tentative budget and hearing only one resident commenting during the public hearing, the Glenville Town Board adopted a spending plan for next year.
The Glenville Town Board unanimously approved an $18.5 million budget for 2013 at a special meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 14. The board did not make any amendments to the preliminary budget approved last month. The adopted budget calls for a 3.55 percent property tax levy increase, which is within the state tax cap.
The average town resident with a home assessed at $173,00 would see his or her town tax bill increase by $21 to total $592. The average Village of Scotia resident with a home assessed at $124,000 would see his or her town tax bill rise around $2.75 to a total $109.
Town Supervisor Christopher Koetzle said non-mandated spending has decreased over the last few years, with savings through cuts becoming harder to find.
“Anything we have control over is down,” Koetzle said.
Next year’s non-mandatory spending is reduced around $100,000, he said. This year’s budget reduced such spending by around $150,000 and the 2011 budget cut $200,000.
Former Democratic town supervisor Frank Quinn was the only resident to speak at the public hearing for the budget on Wednesday, Nov. 7. Quinn said the town during the last five years, including with this year’s budget, overestimated expenses across the three main funds by an average of $600,000 and underestimated revenues by around $556,000.
“There is quite a bit of money … over the years between what we are budgeting and what we actually get,” Quinn said.
He suggested the board reduce the amount budgeted for benefits across the three main funds by $220,000, so there would be no tax increase.
“The proposed town tax increase is more than my income goes up this year,” he said.
Koetzle disagreed with Quinn’s suggestion and said budgets are “forward looking documents” crafted for the worst-case scenario while hoping for the best. He said surpluses are not built into the budget and it would be “unwise” to reduce expenses.
“Over the past couple of years we have done a really good job at managing the budget,” Koetzle said. “We can’t go through and start cutting things … that is not how you budget.”
Deputy Supervisor Alan Boulant agreed and said the state needs to lower the amount of mandated expenses burdening the town.
“It is out of control and it is out of our hands,” Boulant said. “Our state elected officials need to do something about it.”
Koetzle also stressed the town’s continued reduction of fund balance usage. The budget calls for $700,000 in reserves spending, $145,000 less than in this year’s budget.
Moody’s Investors Services upgrade to the town’s general obligation bond rating to Aa3 from A1 earlier this year, and Koetzle said that supports the administration’s push to continue reducing fund balance usage. Moody’s said part of the town’s upgrade was due to reduced use of its reserves.
“The goal of this administration has to been to reduce that dependency on fund balance, so as you do that you have to start cutting back and we have,” Koetzle said. “We have done a good job at reducing that dependency.”
The preliminary budget was changed slightly from the tentative budget, which increased the tax levy increase by 3.4 percent.
Funding was restored to the requested amount for the Sewer Department’s equipment expenses, at $15,000. PILOT revenue budgeted from Target also had to be reduced by $32,000 because the agreement doesn’t affect next year’s budget. The town is also looking to bond for repairs to the Brookwood area drainage system.
The spending plan does not include any money for salary increases for the town’s three bargaining units whose contracts are expiring at the end of this year.
“We believe they deserve raises,” Koetzle said. “We don’t believe that they are part of the problem, but we are asking them to be a part of the solution.”
If the unions can find savings during contract negotiations, Koetzle said raises could then be addressed.
Koetzle said he’s heard comments that residents are “generally happy” with the proposed budget. He said people understand the budget is a multi-year approach.
“I think (the budget) looks forward the next couple of years and prepares us for whatever economy we might be in, whatever our revenues are, whatever our expenses are,” Koetzle said. “We are at a point where services have not been cut and we are very committed to keeping services in place.”
