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The ‘Burgh Sun • December 3, 2016 | 11
Beekmantown Budget << Continued from | p. 1
“It’s becoming very unreliable,” Van Stockum said. “They’re [Clinton County] short-changing sales tax checks.” This year, the town was supposed to receive $1,095,805 in sales tax revenue from the county. But the county, said Van Stockum, came up $38,000 short. County Treasurer Kimberly Davis said she anticipates sales tax revenue to be at $51,600,000 for next year — a decrease of about $800,000 — due to less tax revenue generated from cheaper gas prices. “History has shown that the gas prices tend to fluctuate,” County Administrator and Budget Officer Mike Zurlo said. “It has traditionally turned around.” Van Stockum disagreed, and said he anticipates the gap to only get worse over time. Because of this, town officials made a joint decision put that revenue toward the county tax rate. Next year, county officials anticipate the tax rate to be at $5.96 per $1,000 in assessed value, a decrease of 1 cent from last year. Due to the switch from cash to credit, County Administrator Mike Zurlo said he anticipates the town’s county tax rate to decrease by over $2. The county tax rate has not been finalized and was not figured into the town’s overall tax rate of $13.65. The town exceeded the .68 percent tax cap by $1,334,734. “We had to exceed it one way or another,” said Budget Officer Bill Van Stockum. “This was the year to do it.” VERMONT GREEN LINE As part of the Vermont Green Line pilot agreement, the town is set to receive $5,405,724 over the course of approximately 20 years. If approved by the New England Clean Energy RFP, the town will start receiving these tax payments beginning in 2018. Supervisor Dennis Relation said this allocation is based on town taxes. Relation said by raising taxes, the town would receive a bigger portion. Director of US Business Development of National Grid Joseph Rossignoli, who’s part of one of the consulting firms overseeing this project, said he’s unsure if that amount set by Clinton County Industrial Development Agency can be changed. OTHER BUDGET DETAILS Because of the loss in sales tax, projected revenues dropped significantly by $1,540,934 down to $607,548. A significant cut was made to the highway department in order to make up for this gap. To compensate, highway officials increased taxes. Total appropriations dropped by $437,984 down to $2,816,668. The town used none of its fund balance toward the budget, leaving almost $200,000 in savings. The total amount to be raised by taxes is $2,208,870. Van Stockum said he was confident that taxes will not increase next year due to the dramatic spike this year. Health insurance costs increased by almost 9 percent, a spike affecting every municipality not only in Clinton County, but throughout the state, to varying degrees. Retirement costs decreased by about $20,000. Van Stockum said the stock market crash two years ago caused the increase in last year’s budget. With the stock market getting back up to speed, money could be spared, he said. Taxes for the southeast water district increased due to paying off the bond payment previously taken out to fix the aging infrastructure. All town workers, except for council members, received a 2 percent raise. For more information or to view the budget, visit www. townofbeekmantown.com.
On Friday, Nov. 18, the NCCS Teachers Association received a shipment of more than 1,300 books provided through a program funded by First Book, an international nonprofit which provides brand new, free and low-cost books to kids from low-income families. The NCCS Teachers Association, working in conjunction with NYSUT/AFT, offered the books free of charge to students and parents in both elementary buildings and the middle and high schools during parent-teacher conferences. Pictured: Dave Kokes, Dave Collins, Jessica Castine, Rick Hunter and Jennifer McIntyr. Photo provided