A shortfall in the Churchville Volunteer Fire Department's annual budget has delayed the passage of the Village of Churchville's 2002-2003 budget, which trustees voted to table following a public hearing January 7, until their next meeting, January 21.

The proposed village budget would maintain the current tax rate of $2.92 per $1,000 of assessed value for the seventh year running - it has remained the same since the 1996-1997 fiscal year. This translates to a tax bill of $292 for a village home valued at $100,000. The $2,917,745 budget is down from last year's $3,028,130 budget.

"The challenge this year was to incorporate the new municipal building into the budget without raising taxes," said Mayor Donald R. Ehrmentraut. He said the village board's awareness of community needs, and local, state and federal economic issues, has led to fiscally responsible management, and conservative spending.

With the village tax base growing slowly, Ehrmentraut credits good planning and maintaining healthy reserves with the village's ability to increase services while keeping the tax rate the same.

Ehrmentraut also gives much of the credit to his staff. "We have a strong employee base here in the village who are dedicated to the community and are working toward keeping costs down, which ultimately affects our tax rate," he said.

"To think we built the municipal building without raising taxes, that's phenomenal. … And that plans for the park are included is even better," Ehrmentraut said.

Next year's budget includes $54,800 to develop a new park on the site of the new Village Hall on East Buffalo Street this spring. Plans include a clock tower, a gazebo and an observation deck. "The money is in the budget for planning purposes," said Ehrmentraut. "But a lot of the money will actually come from outside sources."

He said the village has already received $12,500 in private and corporate donations and is applying for state and federal grant money. The Churchville Lions Club has already pledged its support, and the village plans to take advantage of other community resources, such as the Boy Scouts.

The village's general fund - which covers everything from sidewalks, lighting, parks, animal control, and snow removal to salaries and buildings - is up slightly to $1,120,696 from $1,108,859 last year. The rest of the budget is made up of self-supporting funds (water, sewer and electric funds), and from the debt service fund.

The estimated tax levy for next year is $212,322, up from last year's $201,774. Continued development and rising property values account for the increase.

Village officials are planning to meet with the Churchville Volunteer Fire Department's Board of Directors next Thursday to decide what will be done about a more than $8,000 shortfall in its budget. The shortfall is due to the refusal of the Town of Ogden to pay the full amount requested for fire services to a district in that town. Officials must decide how that should be made up.

The fire department is an independent corporation for which the Village of Churchville holds the charter - and the responsibility for collecting taxes to support it. It serves the Town of Riga, the Village of Churchville and a fire district in the Town of Ogden.

"For the past eight years, the Town of Ogden has not paid what the village asked," said Ehrmentraut. Over the years the shortfall has been made up at various times by a combination of the Village of Churchville, the Town of Riga and the fire department itself.

This year, as it has in the past, it falls to the village alone to make up the difference, because the town has already signed its budget, and Ogden officials refused to pay more after a meeting last month.

"The issue has been there eight years … if we don't resolve it this year we are going to have problems for years to come," Ehrmentraut said.

"We feel the village is already paying its fair share. We do not feel village taxpayers should pay for Ogden's shortfall. We cannot continue to absorb the shortfalls," Ehrmentraut said.

"We need to sit down with the fire department and figure out a way that this will work for all of us fairly and equitably," he said. Ehrmentraut said he expects the issue to be decided Thursday, and that either way, it will have no effect on the village budget's bottom line or tax rate. He expects the village budget to be adopted the following Monday, at the village board's regular public meeting, January 21.