By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

The Lysander Town Board voted to raise taxes by 7 percent in 2017 to offset the 21 percent tax cut from 2016. The board voted unanimously on the budget at its Nov. 17 meeting.

Supervisor Joe Saraceni said the tax increase is the town board’s attempt to bolster the town’s fund balance and put the town on the path to a more stable tax rate in the future.

“We had a very steep tax cut this year. [The increase is] to rightsize that,” Saraceni told the Messenger. “I’m confident … that we should see stabilization in the tax rates moving forward.”

Deputy Supervisor Bob Geraci said the town’s goal is to have a “boring budget.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a flat, stable budget?” he said.

Geraci noted that certain costs — wages, insurance and retirement — will always increase, but “at least we won’t have these spikes and valleys in the [tax] rate.”

Inside the village of Baldwinsville, the tax rate for 2017 will be 39 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, a 0.59 percent increase over the current tax rate. A village resident could expect to pay $39 on a $100,000 house, compared to $38.77 this year.

Outside the village, the preliminary tax rate for 2017 has been calculated at about $1.76 per thousand, which is a 7.04 percent increase over the current tax rate of $1.64 per thousand. A resident with a $100,000 home could expect to pay $175.94 next year, compared to this year’s tax bill of $164.36.

Appropriations for 2017 total $4,757,262, which is down $13,986 from the 2016 approved budget of $4,771,248. The town will appropriate $772,000 of its fund balance toward the 2017 budget.

Resident Jim Stirushnik asked Saraceni if he had reviewed the town’s schedule of fees for 2017, which the board will approve in January.

“Considering that the town has currently instituted a 7 percent increase in the taxes for the residents and citizens of the town, I would think it would be appropriate to make a simple broad brush: All fees should go up 7 percent,” Stirushnik suggested.