Sweden residents will see tax increase

According to Sweden Supervisor Nat O. Lester III, no services have been cut in the proposed 2003 town budget, but costs for services have increased. Town appropriations will rise to $3,700,305 in 2003 compared to $3,044,857 in 2002.

Among new services included in the proposed budget are the operation of a $4 million community center which will soon be gifted to the town, the continued development of the park on Redman Road and the operation of Lakeview Cemetery.

Sweden is very fortunate, the town supervisor said, to be given the versatile community center located at 4927 Redman Road. "Building new or purchasing and renovating a facility would have been cost prohibitive for us," he said.

The part-time recreation program is evolving into a full service program that will be funded by Sweden and the Town of Clarkson. In the past, the two towns and the Village of Brockport shared the cost of the part-time recreation program. Now the two towns will share the cost of the program, with Sweden collecting the funding from Village of Brockport residents through town taxes.

Playing fields are being developed at the Redman Road park, property which was acquired from the State of New York for $1 three years ago. Four new soccer fields were recently seeded and may be ready for play next year, according to town officials. Restroom facilities are being planned for construction next spring.

A new expense for the town will be the operation of Lakeview Cemetery. The association which previously ran the cemetery abandoned it and state law required towns to take over abandoned cemeteries.

"We have no choice," Lester said. "This is a layer of government that has been thrust upon us." The town must bear the burden of staffing and maintaining the cemetery which may remain active for many years to come.

On the other hand, the town will also experience a decline in revenue in 2003. Sweden's assessed valuation dropped by $10,000,000 - mainly due to court-ordered reductions in the assessments of public utilities and large commercial properties.

Like other municipalities and private citizens, the town is experiencing a decline in interest earnings. The Monroe County budget crisis means there will be no county highway work for the town's highway department, a major source of funding.

For properties in the town outside the Village of Brockport, the new tax rate will be $3.83 per thousand of assessed valuation, compared to a rate of $3.50 per thousand in 2002. Village of Brockport residents will pay $2.04 per thousand of assessed valuation, compared to 2002's rate of $1.90.

The average homeowner in the town outside the village will pay an additional $33 in town taxes; the average homeowner in the Village of Brockport will pay $14 more in 2003.

"We're talking nine cents a day in the town and three cents a day in the village," Lester said. "While none of us like to see taxes go up, we don't think the increase is unreasonable given the circumstances."

Lester said residents have to remember there is a cost associated with maintaining the rural atmosphere in Sweden. "Other municipalities expand their tax base through large scale residential development. We work hard to limit sprawl and protect our agricultural heritage - something the residents of this community say they want to preserve."