Most Village of Cobleskill property owners will see a decrease in total costs-both taxes and fees-under Mayor Mark Galasso's $2.9 million draft budget.
That's the case Mayor Galasso will make Tuesday at 7pm at the Cobleskill Fire House, when he will explain his proposal to share more of the village's water and sewer costs with tax-exempt properties-including SUNY Cobleskill and Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School.
Mayor Galasso had already mailed letters to all village residents explaining the village's financial challenges and proposed cuts and invited them to Tuesday's hearing when the Times-Journal ran several letters Wednesday questioning his math.
Those writers, Mayor Galasso said Friday, aren't comparing apples with apples; 90 percent of all property owners will see a decrease in total costs under the budget.
Cuts to the draft budget include: Eliminating funding for the Tree Committee, a $10,000 cut; moving the Codes Enforcement Officer to part-time, a $30,000 cut; changes in health insurance, a $50,000 savings; and reducing funding for a new fire truck by $35,000, for a total of $125,000 in savings.
Even with that, Mayor Galasso said, the village is looking at a tax rate increase of 9.98 percent-well above the state tax cap of 2.47 percent.
He proposes offsetting that by substantially increasing water and sewer rates but spreading those increases over all village properties-including those that are tax-exempt.
He'll do that by shifting $535,000 from the water fund to the general fund.
Under the draft budget, tax rates would drop from $11.07 per $1,000 of assessed value to $7.98 per $1,000, a 28 percent cut.
Water rates would increase from $6.58 per $1,000 to $11 per $1,000-a 67 percent hike; sewer would go from $7.50 per $1,000 to $9.45 per $1,000, a 26 percent hike.
Still, Mayor Galasso said, total costs to most property owners would drop.
As an example, he used a home with a medium value of $190,000.
With his proposed cuts and the water and sewer shift, taxes will drop from $2,104.47 in 2012 to $1,517.05.
If that home is billed the water and sewer minimum, that charge would be $409.03 compared to 2012's $281.60.
Total charges would be $1,798.61; in '12 they were $2,386.07.
If the same home uses more water and is billed for high usage, that cost would be $1,636.13 for a total of $2,153.17-still a decrease from '12.
Mayor Galasso acknowledged there is one combination that will see an overall increase, those with a home with a "low" value of $80,000 but are medium or high water users.
Their total costs will go up 4.12 percent for medium water usage and 11.82 percent for high.
The draft budget, and charts listing property tax impacts and water and sewer rates are available on the village website.
Go to the Schoharie County website, Schoharieco-ny.gov, and click on Village of Cobleskill.
Go to Meeting Schedule and click on November 13 to view the budget and charts.
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