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SUPERVISOR’S BUDGET MESSAGE
The Final Adopted 2005 Budget submitted herein contains a detailed
analysis of the Town’s financial condition and complete estimates of
expenditures and revenues for 2005.
CURRENT 2004
TOWN WIDE FUND BALANCE PROJECTIONS
Table 1 presents a detailed analysis of projected revenues and
expenditures for the two town-wide funds for 2004, and compares these
projections to actual revenues and expenditures for 2003. This
table shows that General Fund expenditures are expected to increase by
4.7% in 2004 over the amount expended in 2003, with spending increases
occurring in the areas of personal service and computer acquisition,
and increases in professional services expenses and other non-personal
services. While benefits costs were budgeted to increase as a
result of significant changes in the Town’s retirement contributions,
legislation adopted earlier this year postponed the Town’s annual
retirement payment from December, 2004 until February, 2005. This
will result in the Town not being required to make any retirement
system payments in 2004, thereby generating significant benefits
savings.
Total General Fund expenditures are projected to come in approximately
$25,000 under the amount budgeted. While non-property tax
revenues are expected to decrease slightly below 2003 receipts, overall
2004 non-property tax revenues in the General Fund will exceed the
amount budgeted. Mortgage tax receipts continue to exceed
budgetary estimates, and court revenues for the period ending July 31,
2004 were significantly higher than those received in 2003, and above
the amount budgeted on a pro-rated basis. The final outcome of
the Governor’s proposal to re-distribute traffic fine revenues remains
uncertain; however it would appear that the decision to change the
court’s schedule has sufficiently increased case volume to allow for
fine revenues to exceed the 2004 budgeted amount, even if the
Governor’s proposal is not reversed, as nearly 65% of the budget year
will have been completed prior to the effective date of the traffic
fine redistribution. Overall, General Fund revenues are expected
to exceed the budget by approximately $47,000, with Mortgage Taxes and
Justice Court revenues making up $38,000 of this amount. Fee and
permit revenues have also exceeded budgetary estimates.
This combination of lower than anticipated spending and higher
than anticipated revenues should result in a General Fund operating
surplus of approximately $43,600, as opposed to the budgeted use of
$29,000 from the accumulated fund balance, yielding a positive variance
of approximately $72,600 from the adopted 2004 budget. When this
projected surplus of $43,600 is added to the accumulated fund balance
as of December 31, 2003, the projected General Fund balance as of
December 31, 2004 will be approximately $159,000; a significant portion
of which will be used to offset the impact of budget increases for 2005.
The second set of columns in Table 1 provide spending and revenue
estimates for the Highway Fund. Overall expenditures in the
Highway Fund for 2004 are now projected to decrease by over $43,000
below the amount expended in 2003, and approximately $57,600 below the
amount budgeted for 2004. Please note that these amounts do not
include road reconstruction funded from the Road Reconstruction Bond
approved in 2003 by the Town Board. To date, from the $385,000
bonded for road reconstruction, over $92,000 has been expended for road
reconstruction projects and an additional $3,000 was used for bond
issuance expenses, leaving nearly $290,000 available for future
use. Unusually inclement weather during the paving season
impacted the Highway Department’s ability to meet its objectives for
road reconstruction projects.
With respect to the lower than anticipated spending in the Highway
Fund, it was noted earlier that legislation regarding the delay of
payments to the State Retirement System reduced benefits costs.
In addition, there was a delay in the hiring of a new Highway
Department employee which reduced personal service expenses, and
overtime expenses to date have been lower than anticipated.
In addition, 2003 expenditures included a one time expense for the
construction of the Town’s new salt storage facility. Expenses
for machinery have increased above the amount expended in 2003 and
above the amount budgeted; a budget increase for 2005 in this area is
being proposed.
The projected decrease in spending will allow for the Highway Fund to
accumulate a surplus of approximately $60,000 in 2004, a portion of
which will be used to offset the impact of 2005 budget increases
attributable to the commencement of bond repayments for the Road
Reconstruction Bond.
For both of the Town-wide funds (General and Highway) combined, overall
spending in 2004 is projected to decrease by approximately 2% below the
amount expended in 2003, decreasing from $1,077,555 in 2003 to a
projection of $1,054,093 in 2004.
2005 TOWN BUDGET
Table 2 contains a summary of items that impact the overall spending in
the 2005 Final Adopted Budget. General Fund increases include
salaries for elected officials, employee personal service, centralized
services, programs and debt service. There is an offsetting decrease in
the amount budgeted for benefits. The overall impact of the
changes in General Fund appropriated expenditures (excluding
funding for the Citizens’ Planning Advisory Group, which is paid from a
grant from the Greene County IDA) is an increase of $15,290, which is a
3.20% increase over the 2004 budget.
In the Highway Fund, increases include employee personal service, and
machinery operation and maintenance. These increases are offset
by decreases in the amount budgeted for benefits and debt service on
highway equipment. The overall increase in the Highway Fund
budget (excluding the repayment of the Road Reconstruction Bond) is
$9,200, which is an increase of 1.38% over the 2004 budget. The
combined town-wide funds budget increase, excluding the Citizens’
Planning Advisory Group (paid from Greene County IDA grant) and the
repayment of the Road Reconstruction Bond, is $24,490, or an increase
of 2.11% above the amount budgeted in 2004.
In 2003, the Town Board proposed to issue bonds for a major initiative
to rebuild roads throughout the Town. After an initial proposal
to bond $195,000 over ten years was withdrawn, and following public
meetings at which there was strong support for a larger commitment of
funds, the Town Board approved the issuance of $385,000 in bonds for
this purpose, and to take advantage of lower interest rates and to
minimize the longer term cost of debt service, the bonding was set for
a five year repayment period. By bonding this work over five
years, the Town was able to secure an interest rate of 1.90% that was
significantly lower than the rate for a ten year bond.
With this bonding comes the budgetary impact of its repayment over five
years, which results in relatively high principal payments but a lower
interest cost. This repayment schedule has been structured for
even payments over the next five years, beginning in 2005, and the
annual debt service cost, which must be added to the 2005 Final Adopted
Budget, is $81,444. When added to the other nominal increases in
the 2005 Final Adopted Budget, and the funding for the Citizens’
Planning Advisory Group, the overall total increase in the combined
town-wide funds (General and Highway Funds) is $109,934.
The 2005 Final Adopted Budget includes an overall increase in
non-property tax revenues of $14,100, attributable to projected permit
and fee revenue increases, the Greene County IDA grant to fund the
Citizens’ Planning Advisory Group, and offset by a decrease in state
reimbursement for the Town’s assessment program and youth program.
Taking into account these increases in revenues, the net increase in
appropriated expenditures for the 2005 Final Adopted Budget is
$95,834. To reduce the impact of this increase on the overall
increase in the tax levy required to balance the 2005 Final Adopted
Budget, the amount of $92,000 is being appropriated from the
accumulated fund balance of the General and Highway Funds, which
represents an increase of $63,000 in the use of the fund balance over
the amount appropriated in 2004. With a projected fund balance of
over $211,000 in these funds at the end of 2004, the pledge of $92,000
for tax stabilization in 2005 appears to be reasonable. Assuming
that 2005 revenues and expenditures are close to budget, this will
retain a fund balance of approximately $119,000 at the end of 2005
which will be available for future tax stabilization and contingencies.
By using a portion of the accumulated fund balance for tax
stabilization in 2005, the overall property tax levy will increase by
$32,834. This increase, when factored in with some growth in the
tax base resulting from new construction, will result in an overall tax
rate increase of 2.54% for town-wide expenditures. Table 7
contains a comprehensive analysis of changes in the tax levy for 2005,
and is discussed later.
GENERAL FUND
BUDGET
Table 3 contains a detailed presentation of the expenditures and
revenues for the General Fund contained in the 2005 Final Adopted
Budget. The expenditures are grouped to combine items within
specific categories of Personal Service, Benefits, Departmental
Non-Personal Service, Professional Services, Centralized Services, and
Programs. The line item budget required by law, which is not
categorized in this format, can be found as a separate section of the
Final Adopted 2005 Budget.
The 2005 General Fund Budget includes an overall increase of $4,050 for
salaries for elected officials. A survey of Greene County towns
indicates that New Baltimore salaries for elected officials are among
the lowest in Greene County, especially for Supervisors and Town Board
members. The Supervisor’s salary is increased from $7,250 to
$7,700, a change of $450. Town Board salaries are increased by
$275, from $3,325 to $3,600. Of the towns surveyed, the current
Supervisor salaries range from $6,000 to $13,117, with only one town
paying less than New Baltimore. Town Board salaries range from
$3,134 to $7,500, with only two towns lower than New Baltimore.
Salary increases are also included for the Town Justices (an increase
of $450 from $9,000 to $9,450) , Tax Collector (an increase of $300
from $5,350 to $5,650). The range in salaries for the towns
surveyed for Town Justices ranged from $7,794 to $17,536, and the Tax
Collector salary ranged from $5,900 to $12,000. A salary increase
of $1,300 is also proposed for the Town Highway Superintendent, from
$41,300 to $42,600. Surveyed salaries for this position ranged
from $33,765 to $51,282. The Town Clerk position salary is being
retained at $23,120. Salaries surveyed for Town Clerks ranged
from $16,546 to $30,099.
The 2005 General Fund Budget includes an overall increase of $7,990 for
employee personal service. This includes a 3% salary increase for
all salaried and hourly employees. An increase in hours has been
budgeted for the Planning Board Clerk, offset in part by a decrease in
hours for the Zoning Board Clerk. The budget also includes
funding for an additional part time Code Enforcement Officer.
The 2005 General Fund Budget includes a net reduction in benefits
costs. Based on correspondence received from the State Retirement
System, the amount budgeted for employer payments to the retirement
system is being reduced by $1,700 below the amount budgeted (and not
paid, as discussed earlier) for 2004. Health insurance costs are
budgeted to decrease by $2,200 below the 2004 amount. This is
attributable to the death of one of the Town’s retirees, offset by rate
increases and the cost of dental coverage that will be offered to full
time employees covered by health insurance. The 2005 budget does
not include the cost of the 2005 Medicare Part B premium increase that
has traditionally been reimbursed to retirees who are eligible for
Medicare. The Town will continue to reimburse up to the amount of
the Medicare Part B premium for 2004, but retirees will not be
reimbursed for premium increases beginning in 2005. This will
save the Town approximately $1,000 in expenses. Due to salary
increases, the amount budgeted for Social Security will be increased by
$950 in the General Fund budget.
The 2005 General Fund Budget includes a net increase of $4,600 in
departmental non-personal service costs, most of which is attributable
to $4,000 budgeted for the Citizens’ Planning Advisory Group that is
funded by a grant from the Greene County IDA.
Other increases in the 2005 General Fund Budget include $2,200 for
insurance, $2,000 for road signs, $1,500 for Parks Equipment ($1,000 of
which is earmarked for new picnic tables), $400 for waste disposal,
$500 for parks maintenance and operations and $1,000 for interest due
on the Water District Planning Bond Anticipation Note; these increases
are offset by a decrease of $2,700 in elections related costs (2004
included two primaries) and $300 in youth program contractual expenses.
The 2005 General Fund Budget includes revenue increases for cable
television franchise fees ($1,200), Clerk Fees ($400), County IDA Grant
($4,000), Interest Earnings ($500), Building Permits ($12,500), and
Other Permits ($300). The increase in Building Permit revenues
relates to the upcoming construction of the manufacturing facility for
National Bedding/Serta Mattress. The 2005 budget reduces the
amount for state aid for assessments to reflect the Town’s decision to
discontinue its participation in the Sustaining Equity Program.
This reduces state aid from $5 per parcel to $2 per parcel for
assessment administration. The 2005 Budget includes no change in
Justice Court revenues. Based on the current increased volume of
cases in the Town Court, the estimated impact of the Governor’s
proposal to redistribute traffic fine revenue (52% reduction), and
estimated impact of increasing traffic fine surcharges, the amount
budgeted for 2004 ($55,000) could be achievable in 2005, even if the
traffic fine redistribution proposal is not reversed. If the
redistribution fine proposal is reversed, it is likely that revenues in
2005 will exceed the budgeted amount. Mortgage tax receipts,
though higher than budgeted in 2003 and 2004, are not being increased
in the 2005 budget to reflect the prospect of higher interest rates and
reduced mortgage refinancing activity.
HIGHWAY FUND
BUDGET
Table 4 contains a detailed presentation of the proposed expenditures
and revenues for the Highway Fund contained in the 2005 Final Adopted
Budget. The expenditures are grouped to combine items within
specific categories of Personal Service, Highway Improvements and
Repairs, Machinery, Snow Removal/Other Road Maintenance, Benefits, Debt
Service, and Fund Transfers. The line item budget required by
law, which is not categorized in this format, can be found at the end
of this submitted 2005 Final Adopted Budget.
The 2005 Highway Fund budget includes a $7,100 increase in personal
service to reflect a 3% salary increase for Town Highway Department
employees. The budget for benefits has been reduced by $3,000,
reflecting an increase in social security ($500) and uniform costs
($400), and decreases in State Retirement contributions ($300),
disability insurance ($200) and health insurance ($3,400). The
decrease in health insurance is attributable to the Town not having to
provide health insurance for its new employee, offset by rate increases
and a new dental program being offered to Town Highway employees.
The 2005 Budget includes an increase of $10,000 for machinery operation
and maintenance. Over the last two years, expenses have exceeded
budgeted amounts, including the impact of higher fuel costs. The
2005 Budget includes a decrease in debt service related to Highway
equipment, as the Capital Note issued in 2002 for a F350 Truck has been
retired; these savings are somewhat offset by the cost of debt service
related to the 1985 Snow Plow purchased earlier this year with a five
year bond. As discussed earlier, the repayment of the Road
Reconstruction Bond, which begins in 2005, will add $81,444 to the 2005
Highway Fund Budget.
The 2005 Highway Fund Budget includes $15,000 for transfer to the
Capital Reserve Fund for Highway Equipment. This will mark the
third consecutive year that these funds were set aside for Highway
Department equipment purchases. The funds set aside in 2003 were
used for the purchase of a new F550 Truck and Snow Plow, and with the
2005 transfer, a total of $30,000 will be set aside for future
equipment purchases.
SPECIAL
DISTRICTS
Sewer District
Table 5 contains a presentation of the Sewer District Budget for
2005. The 2005 Final Adopted Budget for the Sewer District
includes an increase of $4,363 in spending to reflect employee salary
increases and additional debt service related to the replacement of
pumps at the Pump Station at Cornell Park in 2004. This increase is
offset in part by a reduction in operating expenses. It is
estimated that sewer use fees will increase by 1.1%.
Lighting District
Table 6 includes a presentation of the budget for the Lighting
District. The 2005 Final Adopted Budget includes no change in the
amount budgeted or in the amount to be raised by taxes.
Water District 1
Table 6 includes a presentation of the budget for Water District
1. The 2005 Final Adopted Budget includes no change in the amount
budgeted or in the tax levy.
Water District 2
Table 6 includes a presentation of the Final Adopted 2005 Budget for
Water District 2. The 2005 Budget includes the final payment of
debt service on a 30 year bond for the original piping of the Water
District. With the decrease in interest expense, there will be a
slight reduction in the 2005 tax levy.
Ambulance Districts
The Final Adopted 2005 Budget includes a significant reduction in the
property tax levy for both ambulance districts. The proposed cost of
Advanced Life Support Service for the Town is based upon the number of
calls; for 2004, the call volume was less than anticipated, and
therefore, for 2005, the overall cost is being reduced by over
20%. In addition, during 2004, the Greene County Legislature
approved the distribution of funding to towns to help offset the cost
of ALS service. This assistance totaled over $17,000, and this
entire amount will be used to reduce the 2005 property tax levy for the
Ambulance Districts. In Ambulance District 1, where the cost of
Basic Ambulance Service is higher, the tax reduction will be 54%; in
Ambulance District 2, where the cost of Basic Ambulance Service is
lower, the overall reduction will be 63%. It should be noted that
in the absence of County assistance in 2005, the tax rates in 2006 will
likely revert to the 2004 level.
2005 TAX LEVY
Table 7 shows the 2005 levy resulting from the Final Adopted 2005
budget, and compares these levies to the 2004 amount. Table 7
lists the tax levies attributable to county chargebacks for community
colleges and other items separately. It should be noted that the
tax levy for county chargebacks will decrease; it should also be noted
that a significant component in this year’s county chargeback is a tax
refund in excess of $17,000 attributable to the bankruptcy of Adesta
Communications, Inc. that owned a fiberoptic cable under the
Thruway; this cable is now owned by the NYS Thruway and has become tax
exempt, resulting is a reduction of $1,000,000 in assessed value to the
Town.
As indicated previously on Table 2, the overall increase in the tax
levy for the combined total of the General and Highway Funds (these are
the two town-wide funds), net of the use of available fund balances, is
$31,834, which when combined with the increase in tax base from new
construction would result in a tax rate increase of 2.41%. For a
home assessed at $100,000, this increase would equate to approximately
$11 for 2005. Table 7 lists the other tax levy impacts for the
Special Districts. As of the time that this Final Adopted Budget
was submitted, neither Fire District had submitted their 2005 Budget.
FUND BALANCES
As required by law, Table 8 includes a listing of all projected fund
balances as of December 31, 2004, along with projected revenues and
expenditures for 2004.
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