Hoping it will open the door to more sharing with the town, Village of Cobleskill Mayor Mike Sellers is proposing a $1.9 million, seven-month budget that will allow the two to work on the same calendar year.
Now, the town year runs January to December and the village’s, June to May.
That makes it almost impossible to compare expenses, Mayor Sellers, or to tell “who’s paying what.”
The village and town have been talking about sharing more services since Mayor Sellers took office in 2005 and is in the middle of a study on the best way to do that.
Mayor Sellers said the $1.9 million, seven-month budget would mean a tax rate of $8.33 per $1,000 of assessed value.
If the same budget was projected out over 12 months, it would be close to $3 million, he said, with a tax rate of $12.52 per $1,000.
The current village budget is about $2.85 million.
In addition to switching the village’s budget year, Mayor Sellers also wants to take garbage pickup expenses out of the budget.
Instead, each property owner would be charged $288 a year for the service.
“The service would no longer be subsidized by those receiving the service,” he said.
Trustees had a few questions and concerns over the proposed changes, but overall, were receptive.
One concern over the changes is that it will mean village and town tax bills will come at the same time—and so will the trash bill.
Trustees also raised the question over whether the trash fee should be applied per property or, in the case of apartments, per unit.
It’s possible taxes and garbage could be billed quarterly, but then they’ll coincide with water and sewer bills.
The proposal—and budget—are still subject to discussion and a public hearing.

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Speaking of water and sewer, former mayor and Trustee Bill Gilmore pressed—again--for charging the Fairgrounds for the services, which it’s long received for free under an agreement dating back more than 100 years.
The Fairgrounds board has long maintained it was promised water and sewer for free in exchange for allowing village lines to pass through its property.
That agreement, however, was made so long ago that neither the Fair nor the village—which discussed the changes under Mr. Gilmore’s administration as mayor and again, a year ago, under Mayor Sellers’—has been able to find the specifics in writing.
The Fair board believes paying for water and sewer would break it; the village has said the free services were intended for a week-long event, not months of horse shows, festivals, and the like.
“This was brought up last February and it was never resolved,” Mr. Gilmore said, putting it back on the table. “It’s not fair to the rest of the taxpayers.”
Trustee Mark Galasso agreed.
“If you use the service, you pay. If you don’t, you don’t.”
Mayor Sellers, however, took the Fairground’s side.
“In defense of the Fair…they feel they were given this 100 years ago and to take it away from them…there’s a lot of emotion and we have to respect that.”
Fair President Doug Cater said Monday he had a message from Mayor Sellers but hadn’t talked to him yet and declined comment until then.