The Cazenovia Town Board last week adopted the 2015 preliminary town budget, which proposes a $3 million total budget with $1.5 million to be raised by taxes. The proposal includes a 4 percent tax rate increase townwide, with a 1 percent tax rate increase for town residents outside the village.
The current tax rate calculation calls for $1.37 per every $1,000 of assessed value townwide — up from $1.31 in 2014; and $1.46 per every $1,000 of assessed value for town outside the village — up from $1.44 in 2014.
Town Supervisor Bill Zupan, who also functions as the town budget officer, said these numbers are only the projected tax rates, however, and are likely to change based on county input and the amount of sales tax revenue the town receives from the county every year. County revenues are monies collected by the county from local purchase taxes that then get disbursed among all the municipalities in the county.
The county revenue numbers do not typically come in until late October or early November.
“We haven’t got to the final tax rate stage yet because it depends on the sales and mortgage tax revenues [from the county]; and then I can make an educated guess on what it will be for next year and how much unexpended fund balances we want to use to bring the tax rate down, if any,” Zupan said. “So it’s still in a state of flux.”
Zupan said the town’s budget had to include some “big, new expenditures” this year, including a $500,000 bond for 30 years for town drainage projects; a $300,000 bond for 20 years for a new highway garage in New Woodstock; and the construction a town salt shed for $70,000. He said there was also funding included for payment of the town’s new weed harvester and conveyor, which were purchased for $70,000 this past spring; and he made some small increases — about $2,000 each — to town judge salaries and funding for CACDA, CRIS-CAT, CASA and the Cazenovia Youth Recreation program.
“As always, I’d like the tax rate to be as low as possible, but we have things we have to get done,” Zupan said. “We have to fix the drainage problems so our citizens’ houses are protected, and that causes an increase in the tax rate; we’ve come to a point where we need a salt shed because it won’t be long before the DEC demands that we have one, so we’re trying to be proactive. We tried to be as fiscally responsible as we can be, but we have certain obligations we have to do.”
During its Oct. 6 regular monthly meeting, the board scheduled a public hearing on the proposed budget for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, at the town office. The public hearing will be part of the board’s regular monthly meeting.
The preliminary budget is available to town residents in hard copy at the town office or online at the town website at townofcazenovia.org.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Held a public hearing on the revised town noise ordinance, during which about a half-dozen East Lake Road residents spoke about their concerns that the decibel level limit was too high and should be lowered. The board unanimously agreed to continue the public hearing to its Nov. 4 meeting.
—Agreed to continue the public hearing on the proposed town special events law to the board’s Nov. 4 meeting.
—Authorized the town highway superintendent to contract with Madison County for the town to perform snow and ice removal on county roads at a rate of $17.53 per lane mile of snow and ice control, and a loader rate of $120 per hour for snow bank removal. The snow and ice control service reimbursement was a 4 percent increase, or 69 cents per lane mile, above the 2013-14 rate, said Town Highway Superintendent Tim Hunt.
—Approved the seasonal closing — meaning no snow plow service — of Corkinsville Road from the Lordon residence to the town line.
—Authorized the town engineer to perform a preliminary review and submit a report to determine the potential to form a new water district at Seven Pines neighborhood in the town, at a cost not to exceed $3,500.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
