Clarkson continues to hold the line on taxes

Frugal spending and a good team - from clerk to the highway superintendent - are responsible for the Town of Clarkson being able to hold the line on taxes this, the third year in a row, Supervisor Paul Kimball said.

"Everyone works together to try to keep expenses down and they accomplish that through good budgeting and planning," Kimball explained. An excellent example of frugal spending, Kimball said, is in the highway department. "The highway superintendent doesn't always buy new equipment. Where appropriate, he purchased used, good condition equipment."

Kimball did say that the town does purchase new snow plowing equipment because it is the town's "first line of defense" when winter hits the area.

The town is looking at a proposed total budget of $2,273,982 for 2004, an increase of $163,022 from 2003. The budget numbers are up mainly because of state increases in retirement benefits and insurance costs. The town's contribution to the state retirement fund will increase $84,600 for 2004, while insurance premiums are up $29,500. Increases were also noted in recreation program costs of $17,900 and employee salaries of $25,400. "There is an increase in the joint recreation costs this year but it's still a savings over what we would be able to offer if we had to do this without access to shared services," he said.

A townwide reassessment may increase tax bills for some people, while others may see a decrease. Homes will remain at an assessment of 45 percent of their value.

Tax rates will remain at $7.82 per $1,000 of assessed value. Taxpayers, with a house assessed at the median range of $104,400 will see a tax bill of $367.38 next year. A $100,000 increase in reserve funds also contributes to the stable tax rate.

"The only bondable debt we have is for the contributions to the library," Kimball said.

Shared services with Sweden and Brockport for recreation, library services and fire protection also contribute to a stable tax rate.