by Kristina Gabalski
Clarkson Supervisor Paul Kimball says town board members have never had any intention to override the state’s two percent property tax cap.
Many concerned citizens attended a public hearing October 23 on a proposed local law that would authorize a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in the state’s general municipal law, but Kimball explains the town feels it needs the law in place to protect itself in case the state decides to change the numbers down the road.
“It’s never been our intent to go over the two percent,” Supervisor Kimball says. “We’re doing everything right today,” he notes, but adds that if the state changes the rules, the town would need the law in place.
Other towns have passed the law as “insurance,” Supervisor Kimball says.
In the Town of Sweden, Finance Director Leisa Strabel says they were well below the cap but she sympathizes with municipalities which feel they must pass the local law to avoid computational errors.
“It’s a complex formula,” Strabel says, “not just a simple two percent over the previous year’s tax levy.”
In Clarkson, the current 2013 budget proposal is up 1.9 percent over last year, but Supervisor Kimball says board members have worked to cut back from an original increase of 2.8 percent.
“It’s been a difficult budget year. We’ve eliminated one full-time position from the general fund,” Kimball says and adds that the town faces increases of $56,000 for pension costs, $24,000 for health care costs and $9,000 in workers comp costs, over which the town has no control.
Former Town Board member (2008-2011) Sheldon Meyers says he and other taxpayers in Clarkson are concerned about the financial direction in which they see the town moving.
“As a taxpayer, I ask why are taxes going up?” he says, and notes that taxes went up slightly last year, but the tax rate did not increase for more than a decade before that. He says he voted against the budget last year.
Meyers points to the purchase of the property on Ridge Road which is now the Clarkson Recreation Park calling it a “frivolous expense” which removed the property from the tax rolls. He says during his time on the board, members were warned by the town’s financial advisor to be careful with spending because of the economic times and future increases in expenses like pensions and health care.
Meyers says as a council member he worked to be, “prudent with the taxpayers’ money,” and notes he feels it’s important for taxpayers to be aware of what is going on in their town.
A public hearing on the budget will be held at the next regular meeting of the Clarkson Town Board, November 13 at 6 p.m., Kimball says.
