The Village of Cobleskill will keep its Codes Enforcement Officer and half of its trees, and both taxes and fees will go up under the $2.9 million budget informally adopted Tuesday-after a four-hour hearing on cuts and spending that drew about 100 people.
CEO Mike Piccolo's $30,000 a year post was put back in the 2013 spending plan as was half of the Tree Committee's $10,000 annual budget.
The $35,000 will come from expected Medicare reimbursement for ambulance service.
The tax rate will see a projected increase of 2.43 percent.
Water rates will go up 5.66 percent and sewer, 25.96 percent.
Though the sentiment at the hearing seemed to support an even larger increase in taxes and fees as a way to keep village services, those who took the floor were divided.
"It's want versus need," said Becky Terk, who identified herself as a single mom and argued in favor of the cuts, no matter how painful.
Pete Nichols said he supports Mayor Mark Galasso's plan of shifting water "revenues" into the general fund as a way to create infrastructure reserves-a shift that along with Codes and Trees, would have also cut taxes and fees for many.
"I'm not a fan of kicking the can down the road," Mr. Nichols said. "Right now, this is what we have."
Businessman John O'Donnell took the middle road, saying he understands and appreciates the village's financial situation, but is afraid cutting Mr. Piccolo to part-time would end up more costly in the long run.
Carol McGuire, a former trustee, also spoke to the importance of Codes, calling it "essential as a fulltime job. Tax the properties as needed to balance the budget."
Tim Snyder took the argument even further, saying he'd like to see past cuts added back into the budget, even if it means exceeding the state-mandated tax cap.
"I don't have any problems with a moderate [tax] increase for those things," he said.
But it wouldn't be moderate, Mayor Galasso said. It would be an increase of at least 15 percent.
He also said he'd had as many emails arguing the tax increase he'd proposed was too much as he'd had those arguing it was too little.
The idea of the "water shift" was criticized for seeming to target the poor and those on fixed incomes; apartment complex owner Eric Dolan said by his calculations, the top nine water users-including Wal-Mart-would see a net savings of $35,000 under the plan.
Others pointed out that at least they can write off taxes on their income tax.
Ryan McAllister, a Town of Cobleskill councilman, suggested going with the cuts but abandoning the "water shift."
"I know there are people here who say to keep services, but there are a lot of people out there who can't afford it," he said.
Trustee Howard Burt suggested shifting only enough from the water revenues to cover Mr. Piccolo's job and the Tree Committee; it wasn't until after a 10:30pm break that the idea of using expected ambulance service revenues instead was suggested.
The village plans to use that income-expected in '13 once paperwork for a Medicaid number has been completed--to create an equipment reserve for the Rescue Squad.
There is, however, a "backlog" of money for calls already billed that will be tapped for Codes and Trees; the larger "water shift" has been abandoned for now.
Mayor Galasso stressed, however, that the village's financial plans haven't gone away; he is already working on a plan to dissolve the village that he hopes to get on the November '13 ballot.