Venesky, Becallo clash before budget vote

By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

The Cicero Town Board voted 4-1 to approve the 2017 town budget in a last-minute vote Friday. The board also voted 4-0-1 to approve the special districts budget, with Councilor Mike Becallo abstaining. The final iteration of the budget allocated $482,500 to the Cicero Fire Department for fire protection, which had been a bone of contention between the town board and the CFD throughout the budget preparation season.

Becallo butted heads with Supervisor Mark Venesky prior to the budget vote. Becallo requested the town board vote on the town budget and special districts budget separately. He is a member of the Cicero Fire Department and abstains from voting on matters concerning the CFD because he considers it a conflict of interest.

“You know I can’t vote on fire department [issues],” Becallo told Venesky before the Nov. 18 special town board meeting. “I’d just appreciate it if we separated them out.”

At first, Venesky said he would not separate out the votes. He said Becallo waited until the last minute to bring up his objection and was unprepared for the meeting.

“I don’t need you spouting off. Mr. Becallo, you’re out of order,” Venesky said. “You walk in here, you’re not prepared, you rarely come here on time to the meetings, and now you have an objection three minutes after the meeting [began].”

Venesky agreed to separate the votes “in deference to [Becallo’s] request.”

“I win,” Becallo said.

“It’s not a matter of winning,” Venesky said.

While he abstained from voting on the special districts budget, Becallo voted against the 2017 town budget.

“This budget addresses no real cuts. Again, spending went up and nothing was done to stop the out-of-control spending that continues in this town of Cicero,” Becallo said. “I’ve heard it from enough citizens: They’ve had enough.”

“Perhaps if you had read the budget,” Venesky said.

“Snipe, snipe, snipe,” Becallo replied.

Budget specifics

Appropriations for the 2017 Cicero town budget, minus special districts, will total $12,118,010, which is an 11.17 percent increase over the 2016 adopted budget’s $10,900,514.

The tax levy for 2017 will be $9,151,932, a 10.02 percent increase over the 2016 levy of $8,318,500. The special districts budget calls for a $4,982,356 tax levy, which is a 5.39 percent increase over the current year’s special district tax levy of $4,727,526.

The total town budget plus the special districts budget is $14,134,288, an 8.34 percent increase over the 2016 adopted budget of $13,046,026.

Cicero will appropriate $550,000 of its fund balance toward the 2017 budget.

According to the final budget posted on the town’s website, the tax rate for 2017 will be about $4.46 per $1,000 of assessed value. A homeowner whose house is assessed at $100,000 can expect to pay $446.07 next year, compared to $410.23 this year.

The final budget can be found at bit.ly/cicero2017.