Town of Norwich cuts back on spending in 2010 budget
NORWICH – The Town of Norwich’s 2010 budget cuts back around $150,000 in spending in the wake of decreased sales tax revenue and next year’s unreliable state aid estimates. The proposed budget shrinks from $1,369,050 in 2009 to $1,218,418 in 2010.
Town of Norwich Supervisor David C. Law said struggling auto sales, a weak real estate market and a lack of state highway aid were many of the factors that impacted the town.
Under the budget approved by the town board last week, there will be no general tax in 2010 again, but property owners will see a 2 cent rise per $1,000 in value for increased highway costs, bringing the amount to just under .76 cents per $1,000. In the 2009 budget, the highway tax was lowered 24 cents per $1,000 from the 2008 budget.
“I think the budget came in very good shape for the times. We’ll see which way the revenue blows in from next year, but this year I think we did pretty well with what we had to work with,” said Norwich Deputy Supervisor and Councilman Charles W. Brooks.
The town’s tentative highway budget for next year is $363,532, $60,930 less than last year’s $424,462. The municipality cut routine road repair in half from about $130,000 in 2009 to $70,000 in 2010, saying the town had done more road work this year than expected. Also, an equipment replacement fund will only receive $17,500 in the 2010 budget, much less than the approximately $60,000 contributed to it annually.
“Currently we’ve saved up $35,647 in the equipment fund, but that figure doesn’t include our 2009 CHIP reimbursement from the state,” said Law.
The town was approved for about $70,000 from the state sponsored Consolidated Highway Improvement Program in 2009, but has yet to receive the funds. The money has already been spent on summer road repairs and Law said when it was received it would be added to the equipment replacement fund and bring the total amount saved to about $106,000.
Law said that the fund’s amount was satisfactory in his opinion, but noted that replacing a new snow plow cost about $196,000.
“We’re not looking to get a new one, but to give you an idea of how much things can cost us, it goes quicker than you might think,” he said.
In preparing for a reduction in state aid, the 2010 budget is slated to see about $50,000 worth of CHIP funds, a $20,000 reduction in expectations from 2009.
“I think we’ve done a good job. Obviously keeping up maintenance of the roads is a concern. We put a lot of work, time and money in keeping the roadways. Anticipating the state is like playing a guessing game,” said Councilman Adam Evans.
The town maintains about 34 miles of roadway and conducts regular maintenance on about 10 miles per year, said Brooks.
Also for the 2010 fiscal year, all Town of Norwich employees will have their annual raises waived with the exception of the full time highway department. The town has 27 employees total, all of them part-time except for five who will receive a 3 percent raise.
“It’s because we don’t know what’s going to happen economically. We know a lot of people are feeling these hard times and we didn’t want them to be the only ones making sacrifices. It’s a tough decision, but I think it was the right one,” said Councilwoman Joanna Chiarino.
Law said a major motivation for the cut backs were because the town collected about $140,000 less in sales tax and mortgage tax revenue in 2009. Law said retail sales held mostly steady, but car dealership sales had decreased.
Another step the town took in 2009 was to renegotiate its electric and gas rates, cutting costs by about 15 percent and saving about $1,200.
The town’s fire service contract with the City of Norwich rose an expected 3 percent, a slightly smaller raise than last year’s and will to cost the municipality $535,667 in 2010. In 2009 the town paid $520,065, roughly $15,000 less in the already negotiated five-year contract.
The town is set to re-negotiate the contract in 2010. Any new agreement wouldn’t go into effect until 2012.
“Just about everything we did was in an attempt to keep the services the way they are and keep the taxes from going up. I think people have a hard enough time these days without the government spending their money. I feel the budget we came up with was the best we could have hoped for because it had the taxpayers in mind the whole time,” said Councilman Milton Shepler.
Town of Norwich Supervisor David C. Law said struggling auto sales, a weak real estate market and a lack of state highway aid were many of the factors that impacted the town.
Under the budget approved by the town board last week, there will be no general tax in 2010 again, but property owners will see a 2 cent rise per $1,000 in value for increased highway costs, bringing the amount to just under .76 cents per $1,000. In the 2009 budget, the highway tax was lowered 24 cents per $1,000 from the 2008 budget.
“I think the budget came in very good shape for the times. We’ll see which way the revenue blows in from next year, but this year I think we did pretty well with what we had to work with,” said Norwich Deputy Supervisor and Councilman Charles W. Brooks.
The town’s tentative highway budget for next year is $363,532, $60,930 less than last year’s $424,462. The municipality cut routine road repair in half from about $130,000 in 2009 to $70,000 in 2010, saying the town had done more road work this year than expected. Also, an equipment replacement fund will only receive $17,500 in the 2010 budget, much less than the approximately $60,000 contributed to it annually.
“Currently we’ve saved up $35,647 in the equipment fund, but that figure doesn’t include our 2009 CHIP reimbursement from the state,” said Law.
The town was approved for about $70,000 from the state sponsored Consolidated Highway Improvement Program in 2009, but has yet to receive the funds. The money has already been spent on summer road repairs and Law said when it was received it would be added to the equipment replacement fund and bring the total amount saved to about $106,000.
Law said that the fund’s amount was satisfactory in his opinion, but noted that replacing a new snow plow cost about $196,000.
“We’re not looking to get a new one, but to give you an idea of how much things can cost us, it goes quicker than you might think,” he said.
In preparing for a reduction in state aid, the 2010 budget is slated to see about $50,000 worth of CHIP funds, a $20,000 reduction in expectations from 2009.
“I think we’ve done a good job. Obviously keeping up maintenance of the roads is a concern. We put a lot of work, time and money in keeping the roadways. Anticipating the state is like playing a guessing game,” said Councilman Adam Evans.
The town maintains about 34 miles of roadway and conducts regular maintenance on about 10 miles per year, said Brooks.
Also for the 2010 fiscal year, all Town of Norwich employees will have their annual raises waived with the exception of the full time highway department. The town has 27 employees total, all of them part-time except for five who will receive a 3 percent raise.
“It’s because we don’t know what’s going to happen economically. We know a lot of people are feeling these hard times and we didn’t want them to be the only ones making sacrifices. It’s a tough decision, but I think it was the right one,” said Councilwoman Joanna Chiarino.
Law said a major motivation for the cut backs were because the town collected about $140,000 less in sales tax and mortgage tax revenue in 2009. Law said retail sales held mostly steady, but car dealership sales had decreased.
Another step the town took in 2009 was to renegotiate its electric and gas rates, cutting costs by about 15 percent and saving about $1,200.
The town’s fire service contract with the City of Norwich rose an expected 3 percent, a slightly smaller raise than last year’s and will to cost the municipality $535,667 in 2010. In 2009 the town paid $520,065, roughly $15,000 less in the already negotiated five-year contract.
The town is set to re-negotiate the contract in 2010. Any new agreement wouldn’t go into effect until 2012.
“Just about everything we did was in an attempt to keep the services the way they are and keep the taxes from going up. I think people have a hard enough time these days without the government spending their money. I feel the budget we came up with was the best we could have hoped for because it had the taxpayers in mind the whole time,” said Councilman Milton Shepler.
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