Amenia wrestles with budget

AMENIA — Amenia’s 2010 revised preliminary budget, as of Nov. 4, proposes a tax increase of nearly 21 percent, which the Town Board agrees is much too high. What the board couldn’t agree on during the Nov. 4 public budget hearing was how to lower it.

There are two main reasons why the proposed budget increase is so high, explained town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard. The first is that revenue coming into the town is down due to low sales and property taxes. The second is the purchase of a new loader for the highway department.

Town councilwoman Vicki Doyle, in an interview before the public hearing, said that it was poor foresight to not have spread out the cost of a new loader over previous years. After the loader is purchased, a new dump truck will be needed as well, and it was suggested by board members and Highway Superintendent Stanley Whitehead that a capital fund be started now in preparation for the purchase of the $180,000 truck.

"A 20.5 percent increase is unacceptable to me," Euvrard said at the public hearing. "I think this Town Board has to go step by step through the General Fund and look for cuts."

Where the board disagreed was where to make the cuts and how much to cut. Euvrard is in favor of financing the loader, which costs roughly $120,000, for about $29,000 annually over five years and cutting back specific positions at Town Hall where he felt there was redundancy, including the hours of the deputy town clerk and the secretary to the building and fire safety inspector.

However, Doyle was strongly opposed to the idea of making certain individuals suffer the bulk of the cuts. She argued for eliminating all raises across the board for town employees (the supervisor is currently set to receive a 15-percent raise and the remaining town employees are up for a 3-percent across-the-board raise), and that any further cuts should be made in an equitable fashion. The proposed general fund increase is less than .5-percent from last year, but Doyle felt there was still room to trim.

"I’m in here every single day and I see waste," Euvrard replied citing the town clerk’s office, arguing it was unfair to cut back the salary of hard-working employees when other positions were unnecessary.

Town Clerk Maureen Bonds said she felt the move to cut back her deputy’s hours was a deliberate attack against her because of the recent elections, where her husband, Gary Bonds, unsuccessfully challenged Euvrard for the supervisor’s position. She said that if hours were cut back the office might have to close on Fridays, which Euvrard acknowledged might be a consequence the town would have to face. Euvrard also denied there was any motivation behind the proposed cuts besides trying to save the town money.

Resident Charlotte Murphy was against cutting back office hours, arguing that the clerk’s office should be staffed when people stop by.

"You need somebody there to serve the public," she said.

Councilman Joel Pelkey opposed cutting back the hours or the salary increases for the building inspector or highway department workers, arguing that a job well done should be adequately compensated, and that it would be hard to keep good people in those positions when other towns were offering better pay. The highway crew is currently looking at a 3.5-percent pay increase.

But Doyle and resident (also councilwoman-elect) Darlene Riemer argued that in tough times the town’s employees should be happy enough that they still have work.

"There are many places where salaries are frozen," added resident Maureen Rooney. "This is not the year to just say we’re going to up the salaries."

"The highway crew definitely deserves a 3.5-percent raise," Euvrard argued. "And if you give them 3.5, you have to give 3-percent to the town. You’re opening up a whole can of worms. We have good people and we have to keep them."

Resident Marco Sartori suggested having town employees fill out a job justification form, where each employee would provide a line by line analysis of what they are doing throughout the day. The form, Sartori said, would save the town board the headache of trying to make decisions about individual employee productivity on its own.

Before the public hearing, Doyle said she would feel comfortable bringing the tax increase down to 10-percent. Euvrard said after the hearing that he would be happy with an increase between 10- and 14-percent, and believed it could be accomplished.

The board needs to vote on the 2010 budget by Nov. 20. Another budget workshop was scheduled for last Tuesday, Nov. 10, after this paper’s press deadline.