Increase Is 5.939% Over Last Year
by Deb Alter
The preliminary Town of Hoosick Budget for 2016 calls for a 5.939% budget increase (not tax increase) over the 2015 budget. This does not mean that every property owner will be paying 5.939% more taxes next year, which is calculated differently. Property taxes are calculated per $1000 of the assessed property value. Sticking to the NY State mandatory tax cap of 0.73% this year would have meant that spending could only increase by $10,000. [private]The higher increase takes into account paying for the new pool, the purchase of two trucks (one new, one used), and the first of three yearly “installments” to help pay for the planned revaluation project (which will be added to some monies from the fund balance), the three things that are adding the most to the Town’s expenditures. But even without them the budget would have to go over the tax cap. Almost all of the surrounding towns are going over the tax cap, including Stephentown, Cambridge, and White Creek.
When crafting this budget, Town Supervisor Mark Surdam and Bookkeeper Emily Sanders looked carefully not just at what was allotted in each budget category for the past few years, but how much was actually spent in order to get a more realistic picture. They also considered future needs of the community in their planning. “There’s a five-year plan,” Surdam explained, “We tried to project out ten years. We looked at ten year financial forecasts. There’s no way to predict what can and will happen, but we can look at the condition of the roads, equipment, facilities and get a good idea.” The pool will be paid back in five years, as will the trucks. The five-year plan for paying back the cost of the pool is locked in; the Board passed a resolution insuring that before the work started. “This budget takes into consideration the principal and interest payments,” he continued, “The reval isn’t cheap, and we felt putting money aside over the next three years was the responsible way to pay for it, and it’s important for Hoosick economic development to do this revaluation.” They are confident that the budget will remain stable for the next few years. They feel that they have gotten the capital expenditures under control in this budget so that future budgets will be more consistent from year to year, and since they are not using too much of the fund balance, there will be funds available should a large unforeseen situation arise.
The four major parts of the budget are General Funds A and B, and Highway Funds DA and DB. These are where the most of the Town budget is spent. General Fund A and Highway Fund DA cover the entire Town, including the Village, General Fund B and Highway Fund DB are the Town without the Village. The 21.476% increase in the General Fund A budget line includes paying for the pool; the big expense causing the 15.757% increase in the Highway Fund DA budget line are the two trucks, both of which are necessary. As is usual, the budget uses about 25 to 30% of the fund balance. The increase in General Fund A of $97,364 is to finance debt service payments for the pool, and $23,333 for the revaluation. (The actual expected cost for the first year of the revaluation is $93,000; $70,000 from the fund balance is being used to offset the cost.) The increase in Highway Fund DA of $74,658 is to finance service payments for the truck of $47,000, $25,000 for equipment, and $2,658 for other cost increases.
Other increases include a 1.5% hourly wage increase to meet the NY State minimum wage requirement, and increase in worker’s comp and unemployment benefits, and equipment and road repairs.
One issue that has been a bone of contention when it comes to the budget is whether Village residents should have to pay the taxes in the Highway DA budget line because the Village has its own highway department and equipment. In fact, Village residents only pay the portion that covers equipment, not labor. This is an issue in other towns that have incorporated Villages within their boundaries as well, it is not an issue unique to Hoosick and Hoosick Falls.
The state has a procedure for how municipal budgets are made. First the Supervisor and the Treasurer come up with a tentative budget based on last year’s budget and actual expenditures and what is needed for the new budget year. Then they submit it to the Town Clerk who then copies it and gives it to the Town Board Members. The Board then has a budget workshop (which is open for the public to listen, but not to comment) where they discuss it, make any changes they agree on and adopt the “Preliminary Budget”. After a Public Hearing (which this year is scheduled for Thursday, November 5 at 6 pm), the Board will take public comments into consideration. They will then decide to make any adjustments and adopt a new budget for 2016.[/private]