Comparing the 2001 budgets of the towns on the west side of Monroe County may be like comparing apples and oranges, but it’s also interesting to know how much one’s home town is spending in comparison to its nearest neighbors. Spending by west side towns in 2001 will range from a low of $1.5 million in largely rural Riga to nearly $8 million in Chili with its extensive infrastructure.

Most towns use property tax to fund between 40 and 50 percent of their expenditures. At the high end is Ogden, 58.8 percent of its budget will be funded by property tax. At the extreme low end is Riga, which because of the landfill located within its borders, only has to raise 18.7 percent of its budget by property tax.

Another thing to keep in mind when comparing budgets is the amount of services offered (recreation programs, police force, etc.) and infrastructure in place (water and sewers, parks). The four towns with villages located within them – Sweden, Riga, Parma and Ogden – aren’t responsible for all the infrastructure and service needs of their residents. That fact is born out through their tax rates which are lower for their village residents than their town-outside-the-village residents. Of course, those village residents also receive village tax bills.

Although the census figures used are from 1990, it’s interesting to see about how much each town spends per person. At the top is Clarkson at $413.55 per person. That figure is likely to be inflated due to the large growth in Clarkson’s population during the past decade. Sweden is at the low end - $207.66 per person. That figure may be reasonably accurate, as Sweden’s residential growth has been slow. Other per person costs computed to be: Chili - $308.67; Hamlin - $259.47; Ogden - $377.80; Parma - $230.95; and Riga - $312.18.

The equalization rate reflects the fact that not all towns are assessed in the same way. New York State has urged towns to go to a 100 percent of market value assessment and most have. Sweden’s equalization rate is the lowest because its assessments are “furthest” from 100 percent market value. That anomaly is currently being corrected as Sweden is undergoing its first reassessment since 1970.

Because town tax bills are included with Monroe County tax bills, residents sometimes aren’t aware of how much they actually pay in town taxes alone.

Town spending plans are presented to the public and adopted in the fall. At that time, residents can study the itemized proposals to find out just how their elected officials plan to spend their tax dollars in the coming year.