BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING
OCTOBER 28, 2010
Supervisor Sharon Boisen called the meeting to order at 6:09 PM.
On roll call, Board Members present were Councilwoman LaPine, Councilman La Forest, Supervisor Boisen, Councilman Wrisley and Councilman Sayward. Also present were Secretary Lois Sayward and Assessor Grace Drummond.
Visitors included Miriam Klipper, John Klipper, Jamie Phillips, Mary Anne Schultz, Denise Wilson, Justin Wilson, Nancy Dougal, Norma Goff, John Bingham, Pat Parsons, Alison Hains, Frank Walls, Katherine Cross, Denise Alexander, Paul Gray, Joyce Sukel, Richard Sukel, Gary Heurich, Michelle Cassidy, Sally J. Smith, Colleen VanHoven, Jim VanHoven, Janice Moran, Jim Morgan, and Tina Gardner.
Supervisor Boisen stated that the meeting would be video taped. She asked that the rules of order be observed as follows: If the public would like to address the board, they should raise their hand, one at a time, wait for the Supervisor to acknowledge them, state their name, stand up and speak loudly so that everyone can hear.
Supervisor Boisen said that there is some confusion because a regular Board meeting is ordinarily held on this night. Her recollection of the last meeting was that we have a budget meeting on Tuesday of this week and a budget public hearing tonight. That is what was advertised.
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She said that, since Tuesday is meeting, it had been brought to her attention that the advertisement for this meeting had to have all the public official’s salaries listed in it and it didn’t have that. We need to reschedule another public hearing for the budget because it has to be on or before the fourth but it has to be advertised.
Councilman Sayward, Councilman Wrisley and Councilwoman LaPine said they could make the meeting on the fourth. Councilman La Forest said he would try to make some changes in his schedule to be able to be present.
Councilman La Forest pointed out that there must be five days between the announcement and the hearing. Counting Monday, the fifth complete day is the end of the November fourth if the announcement appears in the paper on Friday. Supervisor Boisen said the earliest we could get it in the paper would be Sunday. She had consulted with Dan Palmer about that and he had said for emergency meetings, etc., you have shorter notice and the meeting, more importantly, has to be on the fourth.
Supervisor Boisen then stated that the agenda for this meeting would simply be a line-by-line budget meeting.
Councilman Wrisley added, ‘So we can make recommendations.’
Catherine Cross asked if visitors can address anything on this budget that they think should be changed.
Supervisor Boisen assured her that – yes -the Board would listen to concerns.
Supervisor Boisen stated that the first item at the top of the preliminary budget, the Town Board’s personal services, and $9,552 was unchanged and if everyone is happy with that, needs no further discussion.
Town Board equipment, Supervisor Boisen said, is not needed and is budgeted at zero.
Contractual is the same as what it was in the previous year.
Town Justice is the same salary.
Supervisor Boisen said that the Justice Clerk’s salary will have a 3% increase bringing it to bringing it to $12.36.
Councilman La Forest stated that the Town Board’s feeling had been that there should be no raises for elected officials. Non-elected would get 3%.
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Supervisor Boisen stated that The Town Justice Contractual is $2,500 as it has been in the past. Supervisor and Budget Officer will remain the same.
In regard to the Supervisor’s Secretary, the 3% increase had been discussed. Supervisor Boisen said the Town Board was in agreement on the figure of $21,009. The public notice shows what had been in the preliminary budget as it has to by law. Nothing can be changed until the public hearing on the fourth.
Supervisor Boisen said that $8,500 is budgeted for Supervisor’s equipment. She will get the information regarding the software to the Board next week.
Councilman LaForest asked if the Supervisor’s contractual was to be changed from the tentative budget figure of $2,500 to $2,000. Did the Board recommend it? Supervisor Boisen replied that it would be changed after the public hearing.
There was a question from Jim VanHoven as to what the $2,000 contractual represents. Supervisor Boisen replied that it is for training. In 2010, she went to training and that was $1,900. She assumes that the information will come out a bit later for the February training. If anything, it is high but it will be right around that figure.
Supervisor Boisen stated that the $250 is budgeted for the Tax Collector’s mileage. Contractual for the Tax Collector is $900.
Assessor’s personal services, which is payroll, is the same as last year. Assessor’s equipment ‘ the budget has $500 ‘ but we have discussed increasing that to $1,500. It might actually be a bit more to get a computer for the Assessors. The Assessment Review Board remains at $721.
Supervisor Boisen stated that the Assessor’s contractual in 2009 was $988 but Diane Lansing thinks that it could be less than $500 in 2011. Grace Drummond agreed and said that all of the courses required to be certified have been completed.
Supervisor Boisen said that the Town Clerk’s personal services increase was originally discussed as the same as the Secretary to the Supervisor. At the October 26 meeting, Councilman Jim LaForest had recommended a lesser increase based on 23.1%, $4,000 versus the $7,000. She inquired if further discussion had taken place on this.
Councilman La Forest stated that they had not come to any decision. He said he made a recommendation, not a motion on the $4,000. Supervisor Boisen said that she fully supported that and she believes Mr. Wrisley supports that as well. Councilman Wrisley concurred, saying ‘I did, yes.’
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Councilwoman LaPine said that she thinks the 3% is fair. However, she pointed out that Town Clerk is an elected position. If you want to be consistent throughout your budget and you are saying 3% is for non-elected positions. This is an elected position so if you want to make an exception here, you may want to, later on, make an exception in other areas. I’m thinking of the Town Justice, for example, which is also an elected position. That’s just food for thought.
Supervisor Boisen stated that she believes strongly that fair wages must be paid to our employees. She said she does not support increases across the board. She believes the Town Clerk’s position at $17, 313 is probably criminal wage for the hours it takes to do the job that’s needed. She explained that she had considered what was paid to the cleaning person and figured our two office-staff positions, that are comparable to each other, are worth at least the same amount of money hourly as the cleaning person. Therefore, she stated, she brought them both up to $15 an hour.
Supervisor Boisen said that Coleen VanHoven had a great point when she said it was wonderful to reevaluate the salaries ‘ something is obviously not o.k. here but it may be possible to bridge the gap over a couple of years. She said that she believes Jim supported that and Mark supported that and she feels strongly that we need to do that if we are going to have people running the town effectively with the town’s interest at heart.
Councilman Wrisley stated that there is a simple explanation to take care of a lot of this. We need to come out with a base pay for every job. Every year, if there is a cost of living adjustment, that base pay should be adjusted. That should be built in to our policy. We don’t produce that number, the federal government does. Down the road, for longevity, the longer someone is here, every so many years, they get a percentage because they’ve been on the job. When a new person comes in, they don’t get the longevity, they just get the base pay with the COLA adjustment and that’s where they start. It would save the hassle of having to negotiate percentages every year. The only time you would change that would be when the hours would change for a particular job or the job description would change. Everybody would know what you are going to be paying. You could budget it. You would have to sit down and go through every job.
Councilman LaForest asked, ‘Do you think we could do that at a meeting discussing this in one year’s time?
Councilman Wrisley stated, ‘I think that, before next year, we could have a policy in place.’
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Councilman Wrisley suggested that the whole Board should meet and discuss it. It is something for next year. Supervisor Boisen said a meeting will be scheduled for another time.
There was a question from the audience asking what is the number we are now at regarding the Town Clerk’s personal services? Supervisor Boisen stated that the number in the preliminary budget is $24,480. We don’t have a new number other than the number I ended up with when I left the meeting Tuesday. That was $21,313, which was a $4,000 increase, based on Jim LaForest’s comments and support; and Mark Wrisley’s support and my support.
Councilman Sayward stated that, if he is not mistaken, Claire just mentioned 3%, Jim said he can only support 3% and he, Councilman Sayward, wants to support 3%.
Jim VanHoven asked for clarification on the Town Clerk personal services issue. He said he heard three of the five Board members say they favor 3%. So unless something changes between now and November fourth, the number will be 3%.
Supervisor Boisen state that, between now and November fourth, the number stays at the preliminary budget figure of $24,480. Between now and then it could be anywhere from $17,313 to $24,480.
Pat Parsons asked what the salary would be at 3%. Supervisor Boisen answered that it would be $17,832.
Pat Parsons asked for an explanation of the 41.4 % of change from 2010 shown in the last column on the budget. Supervisor Boisen said that’s what the percent of change would be with the increase as it is presently shown on the 2011 preliminary budget.
Supervisor Boisen stated that, so everyone is aware the hourly wage at $17,832, is $10.71 an hour.
Councilman Sayward added, ‘Plus benefits.’ He said that benefits come to between 30% and 40%.
Jim VanHoven asked if a comparison with other town clerks had been done.
Supervisor Boison handed out a printout of salary comparisons. As the town’s copier was out of toner, there was one copy and it was passed around. She stated that it was a 2010 comparison of town clerks and comparable positions in the town here.
It was asked if population had been taken into consideration, as we are quite a bit smaller than the towns that surround us.
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Olive Alexander asked if making the Secretary’s position part time or possibly eliminating it and combining it with the Town Clerk job had been considered.
Supervisor Boisen said that one problem would be that the Secretary to the Supervisor cannot also be the Tax Collector. The Town Clerk is also the Tax Collector under one salary. As to making the Secretary part time, one reason she would hesitate is that there is a lot to do in the present 30 hours a week.
For the Deputy Town Clerk, the preliminary budget has $2,400. With a 3% increase, it would be $2,175.36.
The Town Clerk contractual is unchanged at $600.
The town Attorney contractual has been discussed. The tentative budget is $5,000.
Supervisor Boisen said that $1,500 has been discussed for an Engineer.
Councilman LaForest asked if the attorney is someone working on the sewer problem. Supervisor Boisen said no, the Sewer District has to pay for that.
Councilman LaForest asked if the $5,000 is a retainer. You are raising it from $1,500 to $5,000, is that right? Supervisor Boisen said it is in the budget to be used for legal needs. She said it would be good to have an attorney on call at any time. The Association of Towns is great but their lawyers are not always available. The need comes up a lot. We need to discuss having an attorney on retainer.
Councilman LaForest asked what the Engineer does. Supervisor Boisen said that at the tentative budget meeting the possible need for an engineer for the Octagon School and small projects like that was discussed.
Buildings contractual stays at $40,000. Supervisor Boisen said we don’t always use it all but we need to budget for it. We have a lot of work to do on the building.
Supervisor Boison noted that Insurance, Dues, Real Property Charges are much the same every year. The Town has not had any had and judgments or claims. Contingency stays the same as $25,000. State Justice Fees is unchanged at $15,000.
Animal Control personal services, Supervisor Boisen said she came up with an increase in salary of 13.5 % because of the new state mandate and the work that the Animal Control Officer is going to have to do. She asked for the Board’s thoughts on this.
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Councilman Sayward said his thought is that if we are going to raise $200 there, at least $200 more should be budgeted under the dog licenses. If we are going to spend $200, I would hope we are going to pick up that much on vagrant dogs. Supervisor Boison said that Marshal and Audrey both felt that we are going to have a problem with people not licensing their dogs.
Councilwoman LaPine said that she would like to go with the 3% for the Animal Control officer.
Supervisor Boisen noted that the SPCA figure remains the same. The $713 is based on population of people. We have a contract with the SPCA who is waiting for us to sign it and commit to pay it. Without a contract, they won’t take the dogs.
Animal control contractual, the tentative budget had $2,500 for software. It has been lowered to $1,000, which seems to be what he has used already this year. Someone will be managing this mandated dog licensing by hand.
Councilman LaForest asked who collects the dog license fee now. Supervisor Boisen answered that it is now the Town Clerk.
Life Flight is a $500 contract every year. Supervisor Boisen said that she is hoping the Board will support that.
Health officer, Supervisor Boisen said she did speak with Smith House about everyone trying to get through difficult times and was able to negotiate a lower contract rate from $1,000 to $500. This covers any health issue you need them to come out and look at.
Supervisor Boisen addressed the budget line for Highway Superintendent personal services noting that the Superintendent’s salary is less than all his employees with their overtime and he works considerably more hours than they do. She had budgeted for $40,000. A 3% increase would bring the salary to $35,648.
It was asked what area is covered by the Highway Department for Essex, how many miles? Jim Morgan said they maintain 21.6 miles of town highway, 8 miles of state and 22 miles of county roads.
Highway Department Deputy Superintendent stays at $1,000.
Highway Garage Contractual was budgeted at $39,931 in 2009. That was the year that windows and a furnace were purchased. In 2010, $16,000 was budgeted and $17,109 has been spent to the end of August. The preliminary budget for 2011 is $16,000. It was discussed that this is for fuel, electricity, repairs.
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Sidewalks contractual is budgeted at $5000, an increase from $3000. Supervisor Boisen stated that the Sewer project will repair the pieces of sidewalk going to a home. There will be pieces of new sidewalk and messy sidewalks. Jim Morgan was asked if he plans to repair the sidewalks and if he can do it for $5000. He said he hopes so.
Harbormaster contractual was not budgeted. Supervisor Boisen said we need to focus on what is needed this year.
Parks has been lowered from $700 to $500.
The Beggs Park dock fund is shown as $3,605. Councilwoman LaPine noted that this is an ‘in and out’ type thing and asked where the money received was shown. Supervisor Boisen said that it is included in the Fund Balance on the last page. Councilwoman Lapine noted that this will be money going out as soon as the dock is fixed. It is money the Town already has and will not be raised by taxes.
Playground equipment is budgeted at -0-.
Supervisor Boisen stated that Publicity has been lowered from $1,500 to $500 for the preliminary budget.
Councilwoman LaPine said that she would like to see Publicity brought down to zero because publicity should be up to the merchant.
Supervisor Boison said that in doing the budget, she took a little bit from everyone. Everyone needs to support getting the Town to a place of not being increased if possible. That is why she cut it in thirds.
Gary Heurich asked, ‘What has the marketing and advertising budget been spent on?’ Supervisor Boison said she is not on the Commerce Committee but they do paper and radio ads and ads for Christmas in the Village. In the past, they printed brochures and the map of businesses. Jim LaForest said they had ads in the Shelburne paper and on North Country Public Radio. Mr. Heurich said that he believed radio ads ought to be cut right out as they would not generate enough impression to be worthwhile. Supervisor Boisen said that the Commerce Committee raises several thousands of dollars on their own and asks ‘ in the past ‘ and again this year ‘ for support from the Town. It’s a small amount for us to spend but it is helpful. Again, she cut the budget for it in thirds.
Special Recreation Facility, Grange Hall ‘ Councilman Wrisley said that Ted Cornell has some interesting points that he wants to share with us. Councilman Sayward said he would like to raise the budgeted figure to $3,500.
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Supervisor Boisen said The Summer Youth Program has been left at zero. Can we get a proposal that we can use with Willsboro? Councilman Sayward recommended that $3,500 be penciled in saying this would allow ten children from the town to participate in the Summer Youth Program. It is currently fifteen but we usually don’t have fifteen kids sign up. Supervisor Boisen asked where will get the $3,500.
Councilman LaForest suggested that the $3,500 be taken as a recommendation. We have the rest of the budget to go through and we have some time until the November fourth meeting.
Pat Parsons asked how many children there are in the town. Councilman Sayward said that anywhere from 6 to 8 kids signed up this past summer. He said that he believed Steven Broadwell had said there are 41 in the school. Mrs. Van Hoven said that she wished Norma Goff was at the meeting as she had pointed out that if we cut it back to zero, there’s nothing for the children in here. Norma thought there would be a possibility of pulling together a Youth Commission. There are several children in the town. Mrs. Van Hoven said she likes the recommendation of $3,500 to $4,000. We’d talked about the ski program; I don’t remember quite where that went.
Councilwoman LaPine said that was on the next line, Youth Program-other.
Richard Sukel said that having the parents contribute had been mentioned. Councilman Sayward said, yes, that was the second part of his plan so they have bought into it. That would be part of my proposal. John _______ suggested an appeal to town residents, a fundraiser for money to send children to the Youth Commission activities.
Supervisor Boisen said she has penciled in the $3,500.
Councilwoman LaPine stated that the ski program has been in existence for many years. Part of the money is paid by the parents. I would like to see that program continue for the kids.
Supervisor Boisen stated that the Library has been budgeted at $5,000. Sharing the pain throughout all of our causes, that’s why there is a deduction for the Library, based on the fact that it used to get $5,000 and over the past three years, it has been $10,000.
Katherine Cross spoke on the Library issue. She said they are the Belden Noble Memorial Library, chartered by the state of New York. We’ve had our charter for one hundred plus years. We are also part of the Essex, Clinton, and Franklin Association of Libraries. Our library serves the entire town of Essex, not just the hamlet. It’s based on the population as the census shows.
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New York State, our boss, tells us how many hours we’re required to be open and it’s not negotiable. We have to do it in order to keep the charter and stay open. Until this year, New York State has granted us a variance. From the first of October to the end of April, we have been able to be open fewer hours which, of course, is good for our budget because we didn’t have to use as many lights or as much heat. When I came on the Board, which was many years ago, we were getting $5,000 from the Town of Essex. At that point in time, the Library had no water in the building. We didn’t have a telephone. And we had a very inadequate furnace. It came out of someone’s trailer. Of course, we had our Director. And, we still had trouble making ends meet. Then, ECHO granted a grant, which allowed us to have a bathroom with a holding tank. Of course, the holding tank had water that increases what we have to pay. We also now have a furnace and we have a telephone, a FAX, a copier and a computer. Because of the necessity to be open extra hours, we have to buy Worker’s Compensation, disability benefits and unemployment insurance. Those are things we have to pay for. Right now, we have a new New York State requirement, that we be automated. I know Wadhams is, Willsboro is, and we are working on it. All of the books have to be put into a program and they will be bar-coded so when you get your book, it will be on the machine. We have to buy another computer. All these things cost us money and there is absolutely no way that we could get along on $7,500 a year. We’ve been making ends meet with our $10,000. Last time, Dianne (Lansing) told you what our Library expenses were in 2009. For salary, we had to pay $7,199.30; Withholding, $1,189.27; Worker’s Comp. $323.34; insurance, $400.88. We have liability and fire insurance. Our staff and utilities, fuel, electricity, telephone, water ‘ come to $11,985.90. And, of course, a library has to have books. We are very proud that we have some of the best books and some of the best sellers that are on the New York Times list. We spent $2,400 on that. We put in, for the building, a very good alarm system which was expensive and we paid for it ourselves. We have to have it monitored every year for $200. Then, we have the cable and internet, $683.43.
Our receipts from grants, food sales, donations and programs, book sales, and support from the Town, came to $15,328. So, you can see that we positively need the $10,000 that the Town has been giving us. I thank you for listening to me.
Gary Heurich asked Mrs. Cross what the Library receives in contributions. She answered that Donations are $1,669. Gary asked if the Library does an annual appeal. Mrs. Cross said they sent out a letter this year as ‘Box holder’ for the whole town.
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The question, ‘Who owns the Library building’ was asked. Mrs. Cross explained that it was deeded to the town by the Mrs. Noble. The question, ‘Has Town ever kicked in for some of the repairs, or- for that matter ‘ all of repairs that have to be done?’ was asked. Mrs. Cross said, ‘They’ve been very good if we have a problem, yes.’ Supervisor Boisen stated that the Town just fixed the roof at the Library. She said the Town owns the building and does the maintenance and the Library does what it can do.
Coleen VanHoven commented that the bottom line is that we have a budget of almost $12,000 before we’ve bought a book or a magazine. Secondly, and Katherine didn’t mention it, the Board members and volunteers cover the Library to make up for the shortfall of the hours that we have to keep open and we are only paying the Librarian for as certain number of hour a week. The volunteers dust the books, vacuum the floors, water the flowers and take care of the garden. So we don’t have any maintenance fees included in that. Katherine Cross added, ‘and the shoveling in the winter.’
Supervisor Boisen commented that we will look at your phone bill, which seems high, in order to help you to get a better rate.
There was discussion among the visitors about a more effective fund-raising appeal as many felt that a mailing to ‘Box holder’ was not reaching everyone.
Councilman Sayward stated that he fully supports restoring the $10,000 as it was in last year’s budget and has been for quite a few years. Councilwoman LaPine said she would go along with supporting the $10,000 for the Library. If they can get more money, by sending out flyers or whatever people want them to do, perhaps next year they won’t need as much but, right now, we should support them with the same amount that we have been. Councilman LaForest said, I will join that grouping.
Gary Heurich asked ‘What’s the guiding principal on this budget, to not have any tax increase? ‘
Supervisor Boisen answered, I put together, as I was told by the State Controller’s office, a wish list of what you believe it would take to manage your town properly, efficiently, and effectively. That is how the tentative budget was put together. The increase in taxes in the General Fund was something like 37%. We all know we can’t do that. But that is what I was told to do ‘ put it together and work from there. We met and the consensus of the Board is that we don’t want to have an increase in taxes. Therefore, I took all the information and painstakingly, line by line, with a computer
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Program that doesn’t seem to retain what you put in it, went through again, giving and taking based on what people can afford to lose for support for a year or two until the Town of Essex gets back on its feet. The primary reason the town of Essex would have a tax increase is because we have minimal or no fund balance to contribute. And, until we know that we are going to get paid back from the Sewer Fund to the General Fund, we can’t count on that money. The General Fund is owed over half a million dollars from the Sewer Fund and I don’t know how much of that will be paid back from grants. That’s why we are cutting the budget and hoping to make ends meet for a couple of years until the sewer project is done and reimbursed and I know where the bottom line is.
It was asked why monies had been expended before there was funding. Councilman Wrisley explained that a lot of studies that we did, like the preliminary engineering study to see if it was even feasible, we had to pay for that out of the General Fund, to see if it was even worth putting the sewer in. That cost us money¦.fully reimbursable once the project is funded, it comes back at the back end. We also had to do archeological studies. There were a host of things that we had to do with no idea that we were going to get funded but you could never go ahead with it if you didn’t spend the money. It was kind of a leap of faith to get this done and we did get funded of course. But now, it will be a period of time before we get that money back to cover all of our expenses over the last nine years. Most of it occurred in the last couple of years when we got close; we thought we were going to get funded. We spent a little more than we had to in order to get funded.
It was asked if there is a high degree of certainty that the money will come back. Supervisor Boisen answered, a high degree of certainty, no.
Councilman Wrisley said the reason being is that some of the money that was appropriated was grant money. You just can’t take grant money and put it back in your General Fund. Some of the things that were legitimately paid for, the grant money will fund. Some of them, they will not. So, when the money does come back in and what qualifies and what doesn’t is what we’ll end up with’ we really don’t know yet. We hope we’ll get it all back.
The question was asked, ‘But all the grants have been identified and awarded. Not paid out but awarded?’
Supervisor Boisen said, most recently she had spoken with Robin at AES today because Wayne Ryan was confused as to why when the grant money came in so far, if we transferred, for example, almost a million dollars from the General Fund to the sewer
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District and we paid AES three quarters of a million dollars in his bills alone, plus we had smaller bills, legal fees, notices in the newspaper to the tune of $86,000, all those bills have already been submitted to the Pataki fund for payment and have been paid based on what the Pataki fund will pay. When that money came in, all but a quarter of a million dollars of it was immediately lent back to the sewer fund to pay more bills that were coming in. It’s complicated. It shouldn’t be so complicated. The state comptroller was here for a day and believed it to be confusing and complicated. But, Wayne Ryan said, I’m good at that. I can figure it out. So I gave him my spread sheet. I talked to Robin who takes care of a lot of other paperwork there. She’s now working on it and has some questions for me. My bottom line question to her is ‘ is there any money that we know we paid out from the General Fund to the Sewer Fund that will never be coming back. Because if there’s a figure she can give me, I’d like to know that now.
Gary Heurich commented, ‘There are two issues. When it comes and what will come. Grants are awarded and you can determine what will and will not be reimbursed and you can anticipate that.’
Supervisor Boisen said that on the budget, the figure for the Historian remains the same.
The Senior Center building is being lowered to $500.
The Parade is actually fireworks that is budgeted at $500.
Senior Van Maintenance ‘ the van does not need snow tires. $1,200 is budgeted. The air conditioner for the van will be $1,200.
The Zoning Officer personal services is the same. Zoning Officer contractual has been lowered.
Planning Board personal services is the same. Supervisor Boisen said she had taken out Planning Board Legal as she is hoping to have a town attorney who would be available to the Planning Board to call and ask questions. Jim VanHoven suggested taking $1,000 out of the $5,000 budgeted for an attorney and putting it as a line item under Planning Board Legal.
Jim VanHoven stated that there is another issue ‘ a committee has been working on revising the zoning law. Hopefully, at some point during the next year, we will do it. That will probably require some legal council. The community will have questions that will need to be responded to. So whatever we can do to make sure that we have
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enough money to handle any legal questions, either of a routine nature, or specifically related to the changes in the law that we’re contemplating that would be very helpful.
Councilwoman LaPine stated, so we are leaving $1,000 in Planning Board Legal, and reducing Attorney Contractual to $4,000.
Planning Board Contractual is budgeted at $500 based on year to date expenditure. This is advertising.
Supervisor Boisen stated that the Brass contract has historically been $750. She had tried to contact Julie Martin to see if they were interested in a contract at a lesser amount. She had not gotten a call back so I lowered that to $500 on her own.
Supervisor Boison stated that the Transfer Station, in the past, was a set figure coming in and a set figure coming out. When the state comptroller came, he explained that we need to break our payroll and services down. The salaries are a total of $43, 065 and based on what really did spend, the ___________ is $35,000.
Steve Sayward asked, ‘So will we reflect the sum of the two totals over in the revenue portion?’
Supervisor Boisen said, ‘The revenues will be more accurate as to what really comes in. It’s a separate checking account but its part of the General Fund. I was told that we have to put down what is real, not $87,000 in and $87,000 out and just calling it a wash and then keeping money which is how it has been happening. Money has been building up because it has not been $87,000 out but it has been $87,000 in.’
Councilman stated that it is earmarked specifically for the Transfer Station. We are looking at possibly spending $25,000 of that to get a new loader for the Transfer Station, which leaves you about a $75,000 fund balance. If and when that motor goes up there or the crusher, $75,000 is not going to go very far. We’ve always done the in and out, kept the two sums the same. If we want to break it this way, I think we should carry the same number under the revenue.
Councilwoman LaPine inquired about the Money Market account. There is a separate money market for that. She asked if the figure shown under Refuse and Garbage is the amount that comes in. Supervisor Boisen said that is the amount that is paid out to the County. Site monitoring, down at the bottom of the page is budgeted at $4,300. When the bill falls due was discussed. It was decided to call Geoff Maye to make certain of when monitoring will be billed.
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Supervisor Boisen said that Beautification personal services is mowing, etc. We’ve only used $2,000. Hopefully $2,500 will do for next year. The Beautification equipment ‘ sign is actually grant money. She did not have the information for the tentative budget. It’s included in the fund balance for that purpose just like the Beggs Park dock fund. The Beautification Committee is working on putting signs together for the town. Contractual, was budgeted at $600 and $500 was used. Supervisor Boisen was not sure what it was spent on. She brought the budget figure down to zero. Councilman LaForest said that the committee had come to the Town in the middle of the year and asked for funds to purchase flowers. It was paid directly to The Carriage House.
It was decided to put back $500 under Beautification contractual.
Supervisor Boisen stated that Cemetery mowing would be included in Beautification personal service.
Supervisor Boisen said that the payroll-related figures are based on the salaries on the budget.
Supervisor Boisen said the Transfer to Other Funds is budgeted at $6,000 is for the van. Councilman Sayward said that, historically, we have carried, for the last six years at least, $11,000 for the Capital Reserve. Supervisor Boisen said that can plan that once we get back on our feet we can create a Capital Reserve fund.
Councilman LaForest noted that nothing is budgeted under unemployment. Supervisor Boisen said unemployment is based on the past twelve months. She does not expect any claims.
On General Fund Revenues, Supervisor Boison went down the list of fees as budgeted, noting that she lowered Planning Board fees back down to $50. She cut the Senior Funding in half based on the fact that we are sure to see less money from Willsboro if we are giving them less money for the Youth Commission. They have made that clear. Coleen VanHoven asked if it could be done on a per-person basis similar to the way the summer program is done on a per-person basis. Supervisor Boisen stated that Essex owns the building. We get $160/month rent for the seniors to be there. We pay for the senior van. The County pays for the Director. It does cost the town a significant amount of money. Maybe three of four seniors from Essex attend regularly. It was decided to keep the budgeted figure at $1,500.
Dog Licenses is budgeted at $120. Councilman Sayward said he cannot see the town expending a huge amount of money to enumerate dogs when this is what we get for revenue. Supervisor Boisen said that we are going to have to come up with our own fees. We could set it at $7.50.
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Paul Gray asked about the income from Town Justice receipts. The Board members said that the town gets only a small percentage of the tickets.
In regard to Refuse and Garbage, it was asked if recycling cuts into the income, the history of the Transfer Station income was consulted and it has been consistently around $86,000 over the years.
Supervisor Boisen said she did not think Mortgage Tax would be as budgeted in 2010, so she went with $6,000 fir 2011.
Youth Program – County, Supervisor Boisen said that it looks like we will get funds, even without a Youth Commission. It is budgeted at $700.
Moving on to Highway Fund, Regular Crew personal services, Supervisor Boisen noted that she had gone by the hourly rate in the contract and the increase came out to 3%. Jim Morgan concurred. Overtime wages remains the same at $18,000. Temp. Crew Wages remains at $6,000.
Councilman Sayward said he ran some figures and feels the General Repairs budget should be put back to $55,000.
Supervisor Boisen stated that a figure for CHIPS has not been made available. Whatever we get in will go out. We can leave it at zero until we know.
Supervisor Boisen said that Machinery is budgeted at $100,000 for a new loader that Jim Morgan needs. It could be about $115,000. He can get get $25,000 for the old loader if he were to trade it in. Councilman Sayward that Jim has an equipment reserve fund. That’s what we are supposed to expend for equipment. Lois Sayward said that Jim’s reserve fund was set up for his equipment. You just have to advertise subject to ___________ and then you can spend it. If there are no objections, you can expend those funds. Councilman Sayward said that they have never been carried as line items. It’s a Capital expense. Supervisor Boisen said that we are just going to take it off of the budget and it will come out of the fund balance.
Continuing down the budget, Supervisor Boisen stated, Machinery contractual will be the same, $25,000. Snow Removal will be the same, $60,000.
Capital Reserve Fund, we will put the $20,000 in.
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Under Revenues, Equipment Rental is budgeted at $178,000. Gary Heurich asked what we rent out to get to the $178,000. It was explained that this is plowing contracted with the state and county.
On the Essex Lighting District, Councilman Sayward stated that he ran a five-year average for both the hamlets. He wonders if the 2009 numbers are accurate. The five-year average for both hamlets is $6,660. That is about a two to one split which is what we have. But my thought is, bottom line – $4,500 in Essex $2,250 for Whallonsburgh and that would give us $6,750, which is just a little over what the five-year average has been. I think those last year budget figures are wrong. Supervisor Boisen said, so you are saying then that Whallonsburgh should be $2,250. Councilman Sayward said that if we are going to raise Essex 12.5 %, Whallonsburgh should go up accordingly because the run two to one historically.
Supervisor Boisen said she had increased the Water Superintendent’s salary based on the amount of work that is going to be needed and she also put $5,000 in for equipment.
On Distribution, Contractual Expense Supervisor Boisen noted that $5,000 was budgeted in 2010. $2 was spent in 2009 and $127 in 2010. She did not know why. But, thought a budget of $500 should be sufficient. If we don’t have a lot of breaks, was a comment. On discussion, the budget was raise to $2,500.
Water District Revenues ‘ Supervisor Boisen said she did not know if it mattered whether she put the Budget $40,000 in metered sales or unmetered sales. That is the figure we are going to shoot for. Connection fees, Supervisor Boisen noted that they still have zero in there but there should be some income. So, $1,000 will be penciled in.
Councilman LaForest asked how you feel we can get an extra $20,000 in unmetered sales. Supervisor Boisen said they would reevaluate the rates. They have been the same since the system started. We discussed shooting for that figure, that it was a reasonable amount.
Gary Heurich asked, ‘Why the change from metered to unmetered sales?’ Councilman Sayward said that, hopefully, by the first of the year, everyone’s meters will be working and they will be read and people will be billed accordingly. The problem of out-of-state seasonal residents who will have to heat their homes of drain the pipes to avoid damaging the meters was considered.
Supervisor Boisen stated that on page 14, the Summary of All Funds, all of this will change based on any changes that are made. On the Tax Rate Schedule, the Funds
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Balance for the General Fund, I can explain that. As I said while we were going through the line items, the $3,605 for bank card is in there because we are carrying it over and also the $1,285 for Beautification. In the year 2010, so far, we’ve lent $35,000 from the General Fund to the Sewer District. With the funds that are coming in from the Pataki Grant, I will- by resolution at the next meeting – pay back that $35,000. And I would like to use that $35,000 and the remaining $20,000 to keep the tax rate low. But that figure will change based on the changes we will make to the budget.
The Highway fund balance will be just $30,000 because we are taking the $100,000 out.
Councilman Sayward suggested that the Board discuss a salary for the Sewer Plant operator. He said he had checked on what Wayne had recommended and he has those numbers. He had a salary of $18,700. He figured it would be a half-day job. The benefits were $7,700. That’s a starting point.
Paul Gray said he would like to volunteer to look at what water tests you are going to take. He had done nineteen years of water testing. Councilman Wrisley said that it had all been done according to AES’s specs.
Councilman Wrisley said that Frank Walls mentioned the Ambulance Service. He at least wanted to let us know that ‘ if we are going to put in the budget. He would suggest $10,000 to $15,000. Best case they may be set up by April. Supervisor Boisen asked where ambulance funding should be put in the budget. She will create a line item. The amount of $5,000 was decided on.
Supervisor Boisen said, I do want to mention that our regular scheduled meeting is on September 11. That is Veteran’s Day. I just wanted to bring that up, that it is a holiday.
The advertised Budget Public Hearing is in the paper for November 4 at 6 o’clock.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 P.M.
Respectfully submitted, Carol Pennell, Deputy Town Clerk