The village of Skaneateles has released its tentative operating budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The full line-item document is available for download on the village’s website here.
Under the budget, the tax rate will increase from $3.58 to $3.62 per $1,000 of assessed value — an increase of about 1 percent. A house valued at $275,000 will pay $995.50 in taxes to the village an increase of $11 from the current rate.
The general fund budget will be $2,780,177. Of that, the village will raise $1,500,835 from property taxes, a 1.93 increase from the current year.
The total assessment value for the village increased from $4.113 million to $4.146 million over the past year, according to the document released by the village.
The Village Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing on the general fund budget at 7:30 p.m. on April 10. Following the public hearing, the board can vote on the budget then or at its April 24 meeting, as state law requires it be passed during April.
The village has also released its tentative water fund and sewer fund budgets, though the village is free to make adjustments to those up until the end of the fiscal year without holding a public hearing, Mayor Marty Hubbard said.
The village’s fiscal year runs from June 1 through May 31.
Budget highlights:
Hubbard earns a salary of $5,000, while the four trustees each earn a salary of $3,000. The village clerk, Patty Couch, earns $45,900, the village attorney, Michael Byrne, earns $40,000 and the director of municipal operations, Bob Lotkowictz, earns $117,700. None of those positions will get a raise from the current fiscal year.
The general fund is a 1.26 percent decrease from last year. It covers employee salaries and benefits, the fire department, the police department, the department of public works, planning and zoning, cemeteries and other expenses. Expenses from the general fund are paid for with local property taxes, county sales tax, county infrastructure aid, rental of village property, state grants and other miscellaneous revenues such as parking tickets and building permits. It also calls for $74,126 of appropriated fund balance to be used.
The police department budget totals $492,948, a 1.37 percent increase. The bulk of the department’s budget is police officer salaries: $356,800. The budget also includes $35,000 for the purchase of a new car and $35,643 salary for the police clerk.
The fire department will receive a budget of $329,992 a 1.01 percent increase. Though the fire department is staffed by volunteers and pays for its vehicles through private donations, the village does pay for worker’s compensation, vehicle maintenance, equipment and other expenses.
The tentative water fund will be $412,444 and is expected to break even from metered sales in the village and income from the town districts.
The tentative sewer fund totals $588,242, a 9 percent decrease from the current budget. Revenue, mostly from sewer rents, is only expected to generate $429,475, and thus $158,762 from appropriated fund balance will be used to cover the remaining expenses.
Hubbard said the village would look at the budget more closely near the end of the fiscal year to see if any changes, such as a rate increase, would be necessary.
Joe Genco is the editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
