Citing “unavoidable” expenses, Town of Poughkeepsie Supervisor Patricia Myers (D) has proposed a 2008 budget with an 8 percent increase in the tax levy, which is the total amount collected through residents’ taxes.
“Nothing in the budget is off a wish list,” said Myers. “It’s just what we absolutely need to continue functioning.”
But following her presentation at an Oct. 3 Town Board meeting, some Town Board members criticized the proposed tax increase as too high. Todd Tancredi (R-6th Ward) called the increase “a little shocking and a little troubling.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to lower it … as I have every year,” Tancredi said. Town Board members will continue to work on the budget over the coming months until a November vote.
Spending increases 6.8 percent in the $28.4 million proposal. Myers cited many unavoidable costs, such as debt service for road repairs and other projects begun under previous administrations. Insurance costs – including employee health insurance, liability, workers’ compensation and unemployment – pose another mandated expense. “Everyone knows insurance (rates of increase) are in the double digits. There’s nothing you can do about that,” said Myers. “Government is a service organization. We certainly try to do it in the most cost effective manner, but there are some costs that you just can’t avoid.”
Among the major expenditures:
• $859,488 payment toward a bond for road repairs;
• $528,966 to replace vehicles in various departments;
• $537,000 for state-mandated payment related to an old landfill;
• $539,500 for gas, fuel and electricity.
Jon Jay Baisley (R-1st Ward), chair of the finance committee, pledged to go line-by-line looking for cuts. But the road bond, which was already approved, will not be among them – nor does he regret supporting it. “It’s a hard thing to swallow, but our roads were in such bad shape. You just can’t let the roads fall apart,” he said.
The state has mandated contributions from the town and other municipalities that once used a landfill located near the Dutchess County Airport. Funds are required to close the landfill and prevent any potential environmental threat.
Much like any other business, employees are a major expense of government. Unionized police and civil service workers receive pay increases mandated by contracts. Those expenses cannot be cut.
But Baisley said he hoped other line items could be. “We’ll find something,” he said. “I didn’t expect the numbers to come up that high. People cannot afford an 8.5 percent increase.”
It was too early to determine which areas, if any, could be reduced, but Baisley is braced for a difficult task: Town Board members must make $165,000 in cuts in order to lower the tax levy by one percentage point.
“It’s always very hard,” said Baisley, “but we’ll have to give some of these things up.” More equipment sharing between the water and highway departments was one possibility, he said.
Under Myer’s proposal, a house assessed at $200,000 will be taxed $580 for the town portion of taxes. (Fire districts, libraries and schools levy taxes separately.) Comparisons between this year and last are complicated by the tax reassessments in 2007.
The town completed a revaluation to bring assessed property values up-to-date, eliminating the need to apply an equalization rate.