Nelson town board discusses townwide tax at latest meeting, 2019 tentative town budget

By Jason Emerson

Editor

Everyone agrees the new sidewalks along Route 20 in Nelson look great and have encouraged more pedestrian traffic since their installation this summer, but a question was brought up at the latest town board meeting that had no immediate answer: Who will be responsible for and pay for snow removal on the new sidewalks?

Should the town hire a contractor for snow removal or have each lot owner on Route 20 remove their own sidewalk snow? Should everyone in the town contribute to snow removal costs or only the lot owners on Route 20 who have sidewalks on their property?

There was no agreement or resolution from the board on the question at the monthly meeting on Sept. 27 — although the majority seemed to prefer a townwide tax for sidewalk removal costs — and the issue will be addressed again at the October meeting.

The new sidewalks were installed this past summer by the state of New York as part of the Nelson beautification project, funded by a state grant. Town Supervisor Roger Bradstreet said that now that the sidewalks are completed, the board must decide how the sidewalks will be maintained throughout the winter season.

Bradstreet said the town could either bill everyone within the town of Nelson for the cost of sidewalk maintenance — added into their yearly taxes — or create a new sidewalk district and have only property owners within that district (who have sidewalks on their properties) pay for the maintenance. A third option, added Councilor John Laubscher, was to have property owners care for the sidewalks on their property themselves.

While such town-funded maintenance costs can only be estimated based on the number of plow runs needed per day, and the severity of winter weather, Bradstreet said his rough estimate for two plow runs per day was to allot $24,000 for the maintenance for the year — at a maximum. This would equate to an extra tax cost of about $750 per sidewalk district resident, or about $13.48 per lot owner within the entire town, he said.

“This would be a courtesy to the residents [who have the sidewalk on their property], and the residents would still be [legally] liable [for injuries occurring on their property],” Bradstreet said.

Bradstreet said he had contacted three contractors to solicit bids to do sidewalk plowing and asked the board members how they would prefer to proceed on the matter.

Bradstreet and councilors Tammy Hayes and Deborah Kenn all said they are in favor of hiring a contractor to do the work and spreading the cost to the residents of the entire town. Councilors Laubscher and Jen Marti disagreed.

Laubscher said he found it “unfair” both ways, whether to make the entire town pay for sidewalk maintenance or for the few residents within a sidewalk district to pay for the cost themselves. Marti, who lives on Route 20 and within the potential sidewalk district, said she has no interest in paying hundreds of dollars a year in extra taxes when she could simply remove the snow herself.

The board made no final decision on the issue, and town attorney Jim Stokes said they need official written bids with specific work specifications from the potential contractors in order to hire any such snow removal contractor — something the board currently does not have.

Bradstreet said he would contact the two bidders with the lowest bids to resubmit based on a more detailed, uniform contract.

The board agreed to resume discussion of the issue at its next monthly meeting on Oct. 24.

Also at the Sept. 27 meeting, Bradstreet said he has completed the town’s tentative 2019 budget and it has a “favorable outlook — flat budget, no change from last year.”

He said the town tax rate for 2019 looks like it will be the same as last year, $2.76 per $1,000 of assessed value, but it will be no higher than $2.79 per $1,000. He said the town is currently showing a fund balance surplus of $155,000 and is expected to receive $501,000 in county sales tax refund this year as well.

The town board scheduled a budget work session for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, at the town office. The work session is open to the public.

The next board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, in the town office.