The DeWitt Town Board adopted its spending plan for 2012 during regular session of Monday’s board meeting.
After going into executive session to talk about contracts with the police department and the white collar union, which will affect the budget, the board returned to adopt the budget five-to-one. Councilor Vicki Baker voted against the budget and councilor Troy Albanese was not present.
An unexpected increase in retirement costs for multiple departments in the town resulted in a nearly $180,000 increase in expenditures to be figured into the budget since the last presentation. That increase has been addressed through cuts, said Supervisor Ed Michalenko. The tax rate that has been adopted by the board, $4.45 per $1,000 assessed home value, will be a $.03 — or .6 percent — increase from 2011.
“It was our goal to keep the tax rate down to 4.42, but because of that increased bill, we couldn’t do that,” Michalenko said.
Going into Monday’s meeting, the proposed budget had a $4.46 tax rate.
On a $100,000 home, the property tax bill will increase $3 next year. Michalenko said decreases in special district budgets, such as highway, lighting and trash, will allow DeWitt residents to have a lower tax bill overall.
