Published: October 07, 2008 12:00 am            

TOWN OF TONAWANDA: Tentative budget up 2.9%

Supervisor Anthony Caruana’s first proposed budget is keeping the increase over last year to 2.9 percent, almost a percentage point lower than last year’s hike, despite rising costs and a shaky economic climate.

The budget still has to go before the town board for review and possible adjustments at hearings Thursday and the following Tuesday. In its current form, the budget amounts to an increase of $32.49 for the owner of a home assessed at $50,000. Town assessments are based on a 51.5 percent equalization rate.

The process started with department heads giving their recommendations, Caruana said.

“These budget assumptions and guidelines basically requested the department heads to submit their budget requests with no more than a 3 percent increase over their 2008 operating budget,” Caruana said.

But despite the best efforts to keep costs down, the current financial situation wouldn’t oblige. Total operating costs are up 4.8 percent due to insurance hikes, scheduled pay raises for town employees, equipment purchases, construction of new water lines and increased costs of oil-related products like gasoline and asphalt. Insurance for town employees accounts for more than 11 percent of this year’s proposed $85,861,817 budget.

NRG Huntley has been added back to the tax rolls after the expiration of its Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement, which takes the company out of one income line and into another. That shift and new construction projects have increased the town’s total assessed valuation by 4.5 percent, in turn inflating tax levy requirements. That’s what has kept the cost down to 2.9 percent for taxpayers, Caruana said.

The budget also includes a $3 million fund balance, which allows the town to pay its bills during the first six weeks of the next year. Town Comptroller Ed Mongold said this is the main reason the town doesn’t have to take out loans to meet its obligations in the interim.

“Most towns try to maintain a surplus of 10 to 20 percent to give us enough cash until taxes come in,” Mongold said.

More work will be done on the budget into next week. In other business Monday, the town board approved the purchase of $96,441 in equipment and $192,335 in construction costs for the Sheridan-Parkside Spray Zone project. The town has a $150,000 matching grant for the endeavor, and the two bids combined with the time spent setting up by the Technical Support and Youth, Parks and Recreation department will likely bring the total cost in at just over $300,000, said Dan Wiles, director of Youth, Parks and Recreation.

The demolition of the existing wading pool could take place this year to make way for the new park’s construction early in the season. Early demolition would get things under way faster when the construction season starts in 2009, allowing the park to open earlier. That’s a trend which could continue for years to come since turning on a spray park is easier than maintaining pools that are opened or closed based on a set season, Wiles said.

“If there’s a warm day in April or in mid-October, we’ll be able to turn this on,” Wiles said. “Now we can have a longer season.”

Contact reporter Daniel Pye at 693-1000, ext. 158.

        

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