No Tax Hike In Village Budget
By Doug La Rocque
The debate at the Monday evening, April 30, special Village Board meeting was never about the proposed tax rate in the 2019-2020 budget, all agreed that would stay at a zero percent increase. Instead, the issue that was the main topic of discussion was pay raises for Village employees. Mayor Rob Allen had said at the April 9 meeting of the trustees, that he was concerned about the level of pay compared to other villages of similar size across the state. In fact, he said they were not even at the 2015 average reported in a study produced by the New York State Conference of Mayors (NYCOM).
In his budget proposal, he brought all employees up to that 2015 average. That meant that four employees were slated to receive pay hikes between 10 and 18 percent. Trustee Ben Patton took issue with that for a couple of reasons. First, he was concerned about how that might play with taxpayers, noting not many people in the public or private sectors, receive that kind of increase. He also noted that many village employees received raises up to five percent last year. He proposed capping any increase at eight percent. He made it clear, he understood Hoosick Falls pays lower than most villages, and that there was no question in his mind, the employees deserved the added money. But he also said if he (Mr. Patton is employed in the private sector) received a five percent raise last year and a eight percent raise this year, “I would be doing cartwheels down Main Street.”
His sentiments were echoed by Trustee Kevin O’Malley, who pointed out that many other villages included in the NYCOM study were not facing the hardships that are currently besetting Hoosick Falls. He also said that in many cases, other villages had a greater tax base and a higher median income.
The opposition to the eight percent cap came from Trustee Brian Bushner, who lobbied strongly for bringing all employees up to the 2015 NYCOM average. He cited a credo taught to him by his father, that said, “you should be the kind of employer you yourself would want to work for.” In the end, however, Mr. Bushner found no support from the other board members, not even from Mayor Allen, who originally proposed the raise. The Mayor mediated the discussion, and when it came time for the vote, sided with trustees Patton, O’Malley, Pine and Ryan. Trustee Bushner also did not oppose the budget. Trustee Lewis was absent.
The board members decided that any monies saved by the pay cap, would go into a contingency budget. They also voted to bring the pay of any elected official that was slated to receive a raise, back to last year’s pay scale.