Just as Schoharie County continues to recover from Irene, its finances do, too.
County Treasurer Bill Cherry on Friday released a draft of the 2013 budget, and it restores many of the positions and services slashed in the wake of the flood a year ago.
"It's not dramatic," said Mr. Cherry, who'll present the draft to the Board of Supervisors later this month. "It's a steady, solid, conservative budget."
But the proposed budget does restore some funding that was cut last year to Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley and the Old Stone Fort, among others.
And the budget also restores, for part of 2013, five corrections officers who'll go back to work when the rebuilt jail opens late in the year.
Two factors allowed Mr. Cherry to restore funding and personnel: A proposed 2.8 increase in the tax levy and an expected increase in sales-tax revenue.
The levy increase will raise $509,923, which is under the state-imposed tax-levy limit, Mr. Cherry said.
The sales tax is projected to raise $15.3 million this year. Despite a sluggish economy, Mr. Cherry expects revenue to rise to $15.5 million in 2013.
Sales-tax revenue dropped steeply in late 2008 but began to recover in mid-2009, Mr. Cherry said.
That trend continued the past couple of years and should do so in 2013.
"The economy may not be as good as it could be, but it's been recovering from that 2008 dip," he said. "It's not an extraordinary jump, but the economy is coming back.
"Stronger sales-tax revenue makes up for a lot of budgetary shortfalls."
The levy increase will affect the 16 towns differently because of state equalization rates. Mr. Cherry estimated the range would be from a 14.9-percent drop in the Broome tax rate to a 2.8-percent increase in Gilboa.
The corrections officers were cut in a somewhat disputed move last year. Mr. Cherry expects the jail to reopen in November 2013, so the officers would return some time before that for training.
Reopening the jail means the county won't be paying roughly $500,000 annually to board prisoners elsewhere. Also, the county will likely resume the practice of accepting prisoners from other counties.
"So in 2014, that situation will reverse," Mr. Cherry said. "Instead of paying to board our prisoners, we'll be getting income from boarding prisoners from other counties."
Although corrections officers are returning, some other positions cut last year may not be. In some cases, county department heads didn't ask for the positions to be reinstated, Mr. Cherry said.
Expected increases in spending are about $100,000 in unions salary step increases and about $600,000 in state retirement funds.
The big difference between 2012 and 2013 is $16 million for the stream bank stabilization program next year. Although it's included in the budget, the $16 million will be repaid by the federal and state governments and won't affect county taxes, Mr. Cherry said.
"The $16 million is just a wash," he said.
Overall, Mr. Cherry added, the proposed budget contrasts with conditions a year ago, right after the flood.
"County finances are solid and stable," he said.