Town tweaks preliminary budget; public hearing tonight

NORTH EAST — The budget process is moving along in the town of North East, as the Town Board has already scheduled a public hearing for the preliminary budget to take place tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. at Town Hall, during its regular workshop meeting.

Although the timing is right on, town Supervisor Dave Sherman acknowledged the work behind all of the figures has been tough.

“The board is trying to deal with a difficult budget year, particularly difficult because certain revenues are impacting our budget imbalance due to the fact that the economic downturn has moved through the economy as deeply as it has,� he said. “Taxes are being affected throughout Dutchess County and beyond.�

Additionally, it’s expected that the town will be billed next year for its contribution to the retirement system.

“There has always been this difficulty to precisely anticipate with reasonable precision how much we will be charged, partly due to the fact that when the municipalities are paying they are still paying on a period that proceeds into the future because it’s tied to the state’s future year, so you’re not exactly sure what it’s going to be,� Sherman said, explaining that the state’s budget is due significantly later than the town’s. “You’re doing this projected budget approximately a year ahead of when you’re going to pay. It’s still far enough ahead in the future as to what will be occurring not only in our own future budget but also beyond, to make it precisely come up with a number safe and secure. So occasionally we have to make adjustments that happen over the year.�

For the 2010 budget, Sherman said he came up with slightly higher numbers than the state that he included in the budget; he also did some adjustments as far as the number of work hours for some positions paid primarily by the hour. There was some trimming done to the highway budget to the tune of $4,500.

“There were various steps taken throughout the budget to try to tighten it up,� Sherman said. “My objective this year was to make sure we did not have an increase in the tax rate. I did not feel that people would be able to support an increase in cost. We had to draw upon rainy day funds in order to try to help us through this year, and that’s not sustainable through the long term. Given the fact that at the federal level they’re trying to mitigate the impact of the financial recession, we all hope that somehow we’ll get through 2009 and be at a place where we can climb up and away from this, though it’s obviously not panned out that way. I would like to see how we fare when we get to this point a year from now.�

As far as the town’s fiscal plan goes, there was a slight increase in the recreation line of $2,000, from $33,000 to $35,000. There was also an increase to the police services line, from $16,000 to $17,400. Both services are paid to the village.

Then there’s the amount projected for mortgage tax; it’s rapidly declined since 2007. In 2007 the town raised $147,000 in mortgage taxes; in 2008 that number fell to $123,000 and in 2009 that shrunk to $100,000. According to Sherman, the best projection for 2010 is $62,000 — less than double what the town received just three years ago.

“It affects us because it means that we have to constrain our budget and make it balance and we hold off on any other expense propositions,� he said. “So, overall, when we think about the budget itself, we’ve certainly been wanting to move forward with capital projects, regarding the placement of a highway garage, etc. This makes us retrench back from that, until we see some better times coming our way.�

The final figures for the preliminary 2010 budget show that the total amount to be raised through taxes is $1,646,624.

As Sherman put it, “It’s the best appreciation we can make as far as the economic situation lacking a crystal ball.�