Village of Cobleskill taxes will drop 2.5 percent-but water and sewer rates will double-under Mayor Mark Galasso's $2.9 million tentative 2013 budget.
A hearing on the budget will be held Tuesday, November 13 at 7pm at the Cobleskill Fire House.
"We have nothing good to say," Mayor Galasso said, by way of introducing the budget last Tuesday.
"We are out of money."
A baseline budget that carries no salaries for the mayor or trustees and no raises-except for step raises for the Police Department-eliminates the Tree Committee, but increases the Fire Department's equipment reserve fund to $50,000, would increase taxes 9.37 percent, Mayor Galasso said, to $12.11 per $1,000 of assessed value, up from $11.07.
"That's unacceptable," he said.
Instead, he's proposing "moving" $535,034 from the Water Department into the General Fund.
That $535,034 isn't actual revenue, but represents what the Water Department would make if it was taxed as a private utility.
The sleight of hand is legal under a New York State law that permits municipalities to make a "fair return" on revenues generated by their water funds.
In effect, Mayor Galasso explained, the move would spread the burden of the Water Department over everyone in the village, including those exempt from property taxes; among them: SUNY Cobleskill and the Cobleskill-Richmondville Central Schools.
"This is just moving the money to distribute the load," Mayor Galasso admitted-though he used the topic as a springboard for dissolving the village. (See related story.)
With the $535,034 "revenue" from the Water Department in the general fund, taxes would drop from $11.70 per $1,000 to $8.50 per $1,000, a 23 percent decease.
Water rates, however, would increase 102 percent from $6.58 to $13.32 per $1,000; sewer rates would increase 70 percent from $7.50 to $12.74.
Even with that, the village still needs to eliminate $115,000 in spending to reach the state tax cap of 2.7 percent-or get voters' approval to exceed it.
Already eliminated:
The $12,000 Tree Committee budget, a 12th officer requested by Chief Larry Travis, and paying for use of the parking lot at the corner of Main and Union Streets.
Mayor Galasso proposed a handful of possible cuts, none of them, he said, palatable.
"The only way to balance our budget is to cut services."
The possibility of cuts to the Recreation Commission was discussed and quickly dismissed, mostly because it would save so little and effectively gut the program.
That left:
• Changes to health insurance, a move that would require approval of the PBA.
• Putting something less than $50,000 in the Fire Department's equipment reserve fund.
The CFD has asked for $20,000, just a $5,000 increase. But because the $400,000 truck it's intended to help finance is "on its last legs," Mayor Galasso budgeted the larger amount.
• Making the Codes Enforcement Officer part-time and eliminating the office secretary.
• Eliminating a police officer, a cut that would mean the department would no longer be 24/7, a need Mayor Galasso admitted is "well documented."
The last was by far the most contentious.
"You're talking about eliminating the officer I just put on? That just started yesterday?" asked Chief Travis.
A straw poll showed the Codes Office the likely loser, though the contribution to the Fire Department will also likely be reduced to bring the budget within the tax cap.