The Camillus Town Board approved the special district portion of the proposed 2010 budget last week during the Nov. 10 regular meeting, with no discussion from the public or the board. The general fund budget was passed at the Oct. 27 meeting. Next year’s budget keeps the tax rate at 3.58 percent, there is no increase over last year. The part town tax rate decreased by .24 percent to 7.32 percent. Supervisor Mary Ann Coogan said this was possible due to negotiation with department heads to decrease their spending by 2 percent to keep the budget in line with last year. “They each completed the task,” Coogan said. “Budgets for departments came in at bare bones.” The town has also placed a freeze on hiring, which will leave some vacancies open for the time being, Coogan said. Some full-time positions were reduced to part-time to muster additional savings.
Copies of the 2010 budget are available at the town clerk’s office and will be made available soon on the town’s Web site, townofcamillus.com. The Camillus Town Board meets again at 7 p.m. Tuesday Dec. 8 at the Camillus Municipal Building. In Elbridge, reval affects tax rates
The tentative 2010 budget was approved by the Elbridge Town Board Nov. 4, and although the tax rates were actually reduced, Supervisor Ken Bush noted that it may not translate into lower taxes for residents. “Because of the reval, we have a larger tax base to spread our spending out over to be raised by the taxpayers, so rates are not comparable to previous years,” Bush explained. “The double whammy is that expenses have creeped up and projected revenues have creeped down.” Bush said one such revenue that the town will see a significant drop in is sales tax revenue. Another is interest on reserve accounts. To combat these factors, the board is looking to replace the town’s current health plan, which increased premiums by 12 percent this year. Bush said that the board was, as always, “very conservative in expenditures.”
The only item on the 2010 budget that increased over last year was the Jordan-Elbridge Transportation budget, due to the purchase of the senior transport mini-bus. But based on the program’s success so far, it was worth it.
Copies of the 2010 budget are available at the town clerk’s office.
The Elbridge Town Board meets next at 7 p.m. Wednesday Dec. 2 at Elbridge Town Hall.