2021 Budget Raises Most Salaries
Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Town Board held yet another budget workshop on Monday October 26. The budget it started with showed a tax levy increase of just under 1.2% (excluding Special Districts). Supervisor Dennis Smith said in order to stay under the state cap on tax levy increases, the Board had to keep it under 1.56%. During the course of the meeting the Board cut the figures in five line items and increased the figures in five other line items. The net increase in spending from these changes was about $7,000. But it also raised the figure for anticipated revenue from sales tax by $10,000, so the net effect was a reduction of $3,000 in the tax levy, so by the end of the evening the tax levy increase was about 0.7%. The budget was not completed though, so stay tuned. The acting Highway Superintendent was expected to attend the meeting but was not present, and the Board wanted some additional information from him, so the Highway budget remained tentative. Also, some questions about the Water District Budget were left unresolved, so uncertainty remains in that area.
The Board agreed that the pay for Town positions in Petersburgh is generally lower than neighboring towns and raised pay for most Town positions by 3%, and some by more than that. The Town Secretary was raised about 6%, and Town Board stipends were raised about $100 per councilman to $1800 per year. Town Justice pay was raised $500 each to $6,500. The Assessor’s pay was left unchanged after the Board learned that State law forbids cutting the pay of a sitting Assessor. The Supervisor’s pay is unchanged because Supervisor Dennis Smith said he did not want a raise.
The Board cut several contract expense lines and equipment lines because they were not fully used this year and last and prospective expenses for the coming year could not be identified.
Councilman Heinz Noeding again stressed the need for more modern software to streamline Town office clerical work. Others on the Board agreed in principle but were stymied by the lack of information about what software is available and why it is better, and by the expense of buying and supporting new software packages. Noeding suggested that the Town make an effort this year to research in depth what software is available and what costs and benefits for the Town might be, with the idea to purchase it in 2022. Towards that end, the Board put $5,000 in the 2021 budget to get started toward budgeting for the cost of software in the subsequent year. The Board also added $5,000 to the 2021 budget to pay for painting the Town Garage.
The Board scheduled its next budget workshop for Monday November 2 at 6 pm.