The budget process continues

NORTH EAST — The members of the Town Board were hard at work last Thursday evening, Oct. 23, punching numbers into what was to become the preliminary budget for the town. That budget is now available to taxpayers for review, and will be up for discussion at a public hearing Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. Community members are encouraged to attend.

The budget represents the town’s financial situation as it tries to provide services for its residents for the upcoming year — not an easy task, according to town Supervisor Dave Sherman.

"I think it’s been very sobering," he said. "The board has tried to constrain the budget as best as it could relative to the opposing factors of increased costs and what appears to be decreased revenues of outside aid coming into the community."

One of the roughest spots to even out during the budgeting process was the Highway Department, which has to deal with skyrocketing materials costs while balancing the need for infrastructure repairs.

"The highway budget, because of increased costs of oil based products such as fuel, asphalt and other road oils used by the department, has to deal with the high costs of the construction of town roads," Sherman said, adding that the price for salt has gone up considerably and another $20,000 needed to be added to the budget just to cover that expense.

In fact, the Highway Department’s budget is estimated to cost the town roughly $735,000. That’s with some reductions on the Town Board’s side.

"In the tentative budget we did make some reductions after discussing the cost estimates from the highway superintendent for road materials and also with the general guidance of understanding fuel costs are starting to come down somewhat, although they’re still high," the supervisor said. "But there’s no information to tell us what oil-based materials are going to cost."

The highway budget line was trimmed by about $10,000, which counts, but not by much.

"The board came to the conclusion that they didn’t want to make any rosey projections," Sherman said. "We realize there are a lot of uncertainties, so this is the best projection we can make at this point in time."

Another big issue for this year’s budget is the fact that there will likely be a major decline in revenues for 2009. Mortgage tax revenues will be lower than they have been in the past.

"Essentially, all Dutchess County communities receive a portion of fees collected among mortgages reported at the county clerk’s office, and that revenue has been a steady form of support to each municipality, including our own," Sherman said.

In 2007 the town budgeted for $150,000 in mortgage revenues; it received only 98 percent of that amount. So in 2008 it budgeted for 10 percent less, $135,000. Based on information from the county clerk, it looks like the town will receive $10,000 less this year. The Town Board cautiously budgeted for a flat $100,000 for 2009, taking a loss of $35,000 in its expected revenues for next year. The board hopes to make up that lost revenue elsewhere in the budget.

The town also budgeted for an across-the-board 3-percent cost-of-living increase for its employees based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index). This year, however, Sherman said the CPI is higher than its standard 3 percent, but the town can’t afford to meet that higher amount. The only exception to the 3-percent raise is the town’s assessor, who received a pay increase from $20,000 to $22,500 (halfway to the $25,000 salary recommended by the Assessor’s Office Study Group before she was hired).

In terms of state aid, Sherman said he has no idea what the town is in store for next year.

"They’re looking to reduce all around," he said. "Our normal process is we do not budget for state aid until we get the official notice that the government has approved [giving us a designated aid figure]."

Meanwhile, the board is prepared to make further reductions to the fiscal plan in the coming weeks if deemed appropriate. As it stands now, without the fire district and water district numbers accounted for, the town needs to raise $1,328,870 through taxes. The final budget should be adopted at the Nov. 13 business meeting, if all goes according to plan, said Sherman. That schedule works fine for the board, according to the supervisor, as it "gives us some time to mull over some things."

Copies of the preliminary budget may obtained at Town Hall; they are also available for viewing at the NorthEast-Millerton Library.