A handful of residents attended the public hearing regarding the Village of Saugerties budget on Monday, April 1. They suggested cuts, but also had suggestions for increasing revenues in the proposed spending plan.
Tax rates have gone down over the years, mayor Bill Murphy said, noting that in 2014 the tax rate was $6.30 per $1,000 assessed value. Over the following years, the rate was progressively reduced until it stood at $4.79 last year. “As assessments went up, we were trying to offset the increase by lowering the tax rate,” he explained. “We probably shouldn’t have lowered it as much as we did last year; it was probably too big of a chunk. It was almost 70 percent, but we made it through the year and as a result of that, it cost us our fund balance. That’s probably why we got on the ‘not nice’ list with DiNapoli,” Murphy said.
The preliminary budget for next year calls for spending of $3,411,955, an increase o $399,590 or 13.3 percent. The proposal increases taxes from $4.79 per $1,000 of assessed value this year to $5 per $1,000. Murphy also noted that there has been some criticism of pay increases for the mayor and trustees in the budget, with an increase from $10,200 to $12,500, about 25 percent for mayor and a total of $28,800, or 33 percent, for the six trustees, up from $21,600. Neither the mayor nor the trustees have received increases since 2008, Murphy pointed out. He compared the increase to the increased costs of groceries, gasoline and college tuition.
This year’s tax increase reflects the fact that “we want to get off DiNapoli’s bad list, and we want to build up our fund balance again,” Murphy said.
“You’re doing a good job with the budget, but there are a few issues that concern me,” said David Radovanovic. “You’re talking $800 and some odd thousand dollars that we’re in the hole for, from my little research and it’s completely unnecessary. How are we generating money and where are we generating money from? “The slap on the wrist” from the comptroller was not the first time this has happened.
“It’s the first time on my watch,” Murphy responded.
The proposed budget is designed to begin building up a surplus and “get us off the hit list from DiNapoli’s office,” Murphy said. He added that there were more than 100 communities that didn’t report and 529 that never filed any financial reports.
One resident suggested that the village could seek some help from Ulster County. Ellenville has received county help, so why should Saugerties not ask for it, he said.
Ellenville qualifies for financial help because its resident’s average income is low, Murphy said. He also noted that since Saugerties started its installment payment plan, tax collections have increased substantially.
Murphy acknowledged that the village doesn’t get all the income it should from the county and other sources, and that it may be time to seek better terms for mortgage and sales taxes.
The resident also suggested that part of the solution has to be in consolidation because there’s a redundancy of services that really needs to be addressed.
“We did the police a few years ago and that worked out fine,” Murphy said, referring to the consolidation of the village and town police forces. The town and village are in talks to consolidate the courts, though this can’t be completed until a current justice finishes his term, Murphy said. As far as the department of public works is concerned, the town has a highway department, whose responsibility is limited to the roads. “The village department of public works is more of a full-service organization; they do sidewalks, they do tree cutting, they do leaf pickup, they do brush pickup. That’s something that village people get that townspeople don’t get.”
The town and village share services, which produces savings that don’t always show up in the budget, Murphy said.
One speaker questioned work on the beach and at Seamon Park and why the budget for this area was increased substantially. Murphy explained that the village hired a new supervisor for parks and grounds. While the previous parks commissioner occupied a building on the park property as part of his salary, the current commissioner, Kevin Brown, does not. Brown is also a licensed electrician, which means the village doesn’t have to pay an outside electrician for work on village property, Murphy said.
The building at Seamon Park is to be renovated and will be rented as an Airbnb or for weddings and parties, Murphy said.
The discussion ended with one member of the audience offering his services as a grant writer for the village. He agreed to talk to Murphy about ideas he has for helping.
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