North Norwich passes budget after overriding state tax cap
NORTH NORWICH – The Town of North Norwich has passed a budget for the 2013 fiscal year, but like many municipalities in Chenango County and statewide, the town faces increased pension and healthcare costs for municipal employees which has led leaders to take requisite action to override the 2 percent property tax cap enacted by New York State.
At the last regular board meeting, council members approved the tax cap override to accommodate climbing pension and healthcare costs and a falling surplus balance. For a decade, the town – currently debt-free – has used accumulated interest from highway and building reserves in addition to budget surplus to maintain the tax levy for its general and highway funds; however, $50,000 was put to use for the 2012 budget and $53,000 is called for to reduce the tax levy again for 2013.
Large annual withdrawals from surplus and falling interest rates are quickly causing those reserve funds to dwindle, explained North Norwich Supervisor Robert Wansor, and according to an earlier press release, current trends of taking from those budget line items are “unsustainable,” although the town council has adopted a budget for 2013 that is “tight and fiscally prudent.”
For the 2013 budget, the general tax rate will increase by about ten cents per $1,000, and by 13 cents per $1,000 for the highway fund, meaning a home worth $100,000 will see a tax increase of nearly $23. Wansor said state mandates, including state retirement costs and health insurance premium hikes for town employees, together with interest and surplus reserves on the wane has called for a tax levy increase of 9 percent in the budget – roughly 7 percent over the New York State tax cap.
“We have no choice but to include these mandates in our budget,” said the supervisor. “The board of supervisors of Chenango County has jointly sent a letter to our state legislators asking for mandate relief,” he added, but when that relief will come is still up in the air.
Earlier this year, the township was granted an unexpected $135,000 mortgage filing fee as the result of a refinanced mortgage at Norwich Pharmaceuticals. This money, said Wansor, will be used a little at a time to keep tax levy rates low over a number of years to offset the town’s reliance on diminishing fund surplus balances and avoid a tremendous, all-at-once tax increase.
“We can’t count on these large mortgage tax windfalls,” Wansor said. “Our fund balance is decreasing and some of the sources that helped to build up the funds balance are not there.”
Wansor also noted that it’s the primary goal of the North Norwich town government to reduce taxes wherever possible and keep tax increases to a minimum while still providing essential services to residents. He added that he is available to review and discuss details of the 2013 budget with concerned town residents.
At the last regular board meeting, council members approved the tax cap override to accommodate climbing pension and healthcare costs and a falling surplus balance. For a decade, the town – currently debt-free – has used accumulated interest from highway and building reserves in addition to budget surplus to maintain the tax levy for its general and highway funds; however, $50,000 was put to use for the 2012 budget and $53,000 is called for to reduce the tax levy again for 2013.
Large annual withdrawals from surplus and falling interest rates are quickly causing those reserve funds to dwindle, explained North Norwich Supervisor Robert Wansor, and according to an earlier press release, current trends of taking from those budget line items are “unsustainable,” although the town council has adopted a budget for 2013 that is “tight and fiscally prudent.”
For the 2013 budget, the general tax rate will increase by about ten cents per $1,000, and by 13 cents per $1,000 for the highway fund, meaning a home worth $100,000 will see a tax increase of nearly $23. Wansor said state mandates, including state retirement costs and health insurance premium hikes for town employees, together with interest and surplus reserves on the wane has called for a tax levy increase of 9 percent in the budget – roughly 7 percent over the New York State tax cap.
“We have no choice but to include these mandates in our budget,” said the supervisor. “The board of supervisors of Chenango County has jointly sent a letter to our state legislators asking for mandate relief,” he added, but when that relief will come is still up in the air.
Earlier this year, the township was granted an unexpected $135,000 mortgage filing fee as the result of a refinanced mortgage at Norwich Pharmaceuticals. This money, said Wansor, will be used a little at a time to keep tax levy rates low over a number of years to offset the town’s reliance on diminishing fund surplus balances and avoid a tremendous, all-at-once tax increase.
“We can’t count on these large mortgage tax windfalls,” Wansor said. “Our fund balance is decreasing and some of the sources that helped to build up the funds balance are not there.”
Wansor also noted that it’s the primary goal of the North Norwich town government to reduce taxes wherever possible and keep tax increases to a minimum while still providing essential services to residents. He added that he is available to review and discuss details of the 2013 budget with concerned town residents.
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