The Fenner Town Board recently accepted the tentative 2017 budget as the preliminary budget, and town residents are likely to see their tax rate increase next year by a quarter.
The $1 million preliminary town budget is down $35,824 from the 2016 budget, but the town will also receive $115,000 less this year in tax revenue from the windmills, said Supervisor Dave Jones at both the board’s Oct. 5 budget work session and Oct. 12 regular monthly meeting.
The preliminary budget includes a $60,000 increase in the highway department equipment fund budget line to replace needed equipment and will use $60,000 from the town’s tax stabilization fund toward the general fund budget this year, said Jones. The town will receive approximately $85,000 in tax revenue from the windmills this year, while the sales tax revenue from Madison County is expected to be the same as it was last year, he said.
Under the preliminary budget, the town tax rate will be $3.34 per every $1,000 of assessed value, which is a 25-cent increase from 2016.
The board had previously predicted that town taxes would go up this year due to the end of the Fenner Wind Farm’s 15-year PILOT program with the town, which put the windmills on the town tax rolls and reduced the windmill revenue received by the town.
Because of the loss of windmill revenue, the town board expects that it will be required to override the state-mandated tax cap this year, Jones said. At the Oct. 12 meeting, the board held a public hearing on a proposed law to override the tax cap, during which no members of the audience spoke. The board then unanimously approved the local law.
The board has scheduled a public hearing for the preliminary town budget at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the town office.
Also at the meeting, the board agreed to consider a request from local residents that it form a committee to review and update its land use law and subdivision regulations to be more in accordance with its Comprehensive Plan.
The request came from residents who voiced their concern over a proposed subdivision development at the corner of Irish Ridge and Cary Hill roads, which the town planning board is currently reviewing. At least 50 residents attended the board’s Oct. 12 meeting, during which resident Bill Parry said part of his concern over the proposed subdivision was that the planning board’s decision is bound by the town laws – but the laws in this case are outdated. Parry said that while the Comprehensive Plan is only seven years old, the subdivision regulations are 22 years old and the land use law is 19 years old. “Some things need to be looked at and seriously updated,” he said.
Residents Marge Holt agreed and said the planning board needs “updated tools” to properly perform their jobs and to “help protect and preserve the town.”
Jones said the residents’ concerns about updated town laws had been “duly noted” and the board would discuss it among themselves, with the planning board and the town attorney “and see how we proceed from there.”
Jones said the issue would be discussed more at the board’s Nov. 9 regular meeting.
