The total amount of property taxes that Village of Saugerties residents will pay in the coming year, a/k/a the tax levy, will be $1,913,973: an increase of $29,170 or 1.55 percent over the current year. Total spending is budgeted at $3,007,365, an increase of $163,804 or 5.6 percent. The budget also includes $213,692 appropriated from the fund balance. The Saugerties Village Board approved the budget at its regular meeting on Monday, April 3, following a public hearing at which no one spoke.
The budget presented at the meeting Monday was less than the original presented two weeks earlier, as mayor Bill Murphy and treasurer Paula Kerbert went over it and cut some expenditures, Murphy said. He particularly praised Kerbert for the great effort she put in to pare down the spending plan. After the last meeting, he and Kerbert “were in tears” because the budget was too high. Over the next two weeks, they cut $73,100 to present the budget that was adopted at the meeting.
At the previous meeting Murphy said that while he, Kerbert and trustee Vincent Buono went over the budget to keep spending as low as possible, and department heads and trustees worked to keep costs down, some items were out of the Board’s control. Such mandated costs included unemployment insurance, which increased from $1,000 to $1,500; Social Security, up from $74,000 this fiscal year to $97,000 next year; state retirement, up $14,000 from $113,000 to $127,000, and disability insurance, from $4,500 to $6,500. Other increases include the Village justice, $72,000 to $83,126; street maintenance, from $384,378 to $390,425; and storm sewers contractual work, up $2,000 from $35,000 to $37,000.
Many areas of the budget show less expenditure for next year — some fairly substantial, others small. Street lighting, which cost $60,000 this year, is budgeted for $50,000 for the next fiscal year. Park equipment, which cost $20,000 this fiscal year, is budgeted for $13,000. Street cleaning is budgeted for $3,000; it was $4,000 in this year’s budget.
The mayor’s salary remains at $10,200. Trustees’ stipends total $21,600, the same as this year, or $3,600 each.
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