Budget bottom line: a 4.4% tax hike

“I don’t think there’s a discretionary line item that has gone up.”
That was the positive news Town Supervisor Jim Dougherty delivered as he and the Town Board adopted the preliminary budget for 2010 of over $10 million on Monday morning.
“All departments cooperated very well” in keeping expenses down, the supervisor said, but even so, the town tax levy will be going up. The preliminary budget calls for raising $6,505,783 from taxes, up $283,467 or 4.4 percent over the 2009 levy.
The tax rate per $1,000 in assessed value for the Island’s $3.3 billion worth of taxable properties will increase from $1.81 to $2.09.
The Town Board will hold a public hearing on the preliminary budget at 1 p.m on Wednesday, November 4, the day after Election Day. “After we get the input from all you folks,” Mr. Dougherty said at Tuesday’s work session, the board will approve a final budget on November 13.
Some department expenses, like the $85,000 paper baler requested by Public Works Commissioner Mark Ketcham, did not make it through to the new bottom line. Board members and Mr. Ketcham worked Saturday morning with the town’s financial consultant, Eileen Tuohy, to finish the preliminary budget.
According to an October 26 budget summary table provided by the Town Clerk, the preliminary budget expenses for 2010 are actually lower than the adopted budget for 2009 by more than $100,000. But non-tax revenues anticipated in 2010 are way down from those estimated for 2009 — $4.9 million then, $3.1 million now or a 36.5 percent reduction in anticipated revenues. Town Board members have commented on the fact that some significant 2009 revenues may never fully materialize — the 2009 budget was adopted as the worldwide economy began its downward slide last fall. For example, mortgage taxes, as high as $700,000 in recent years, were estimated at $450,000 for 2009; only $113,401.83 was collected in the first six months of the year.
During budget talks, the Town Board members and department heads emphasized the need to be conservative in estimating revenues for the coming year.
Before estimating a bottom line for taxpayers, the town dipped into its fund balance and appropriated reserves to the tune of $535,000. As Mr. Dougherty said at a recent work session: “These are versions of rainy day funds … and this is a rainy day.”
The preliminary 2010 budget may be viewed at the Town Clerk’s office.