Town’s 2019 budget reduces spending, tax levy
The Town Board has scheduled an Oct. 22 public hearing on a proposed $3.3 million municipal budget for 2019 that would reduce both spending and the property tax levy from their 2018 levels.
The hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall, 10 Wamsley Place.
The proposed budget is $101,185, or 2.9 percent, smaller than he town’s 2018 spending plan. The proposed property tax levy for next year is $2.3 million, a decrease of $87,678, or 3.4 percent, from the 2018 total.
Town Supervisor John Perry said the proposed tax levy is about $88,000 less than the maximum allowed by the state.
Salaries for elected officials in the proposed budget include $28,000 for the town supervisor, unchanged from 2018; $5,70 for each of the four members of the Town Board, also unchanged; $53,652 for the highway superintendent, up 2 percent; $18,519 for each of the two town justices, up 2 percent; and $45,620 for the town clerk, up 2 percent.
Perry said the budget eliminates the position of animal control officer, an $8,000 expense, but appropriates $5,000 for contractual costs for animal control.
The town’s 2019 budget also includes:
• $621,362 for employee benefits, up 2.3 percent from 2018.
• $169,665 for highway machinery, down 2.9 percent.
• A $150,000 contingency fund, down from $250,000.
• $99,300 for code enforcement, up 21.1 percent.
• $60,000 for environmental expenses, down 9.1 percent.
• $31,000 for recreation, down 31.1 percent
• $25,000 for parks, up from this year’s $15,000.