CHENANGO COUNTY – If adopted, Chenango County’s 2016 budget will see a 2.01 percent tax rate increase for county taxpayers.
County officials released preliminary figures for Chenango’s 2016 annual budget this week. The tentative fiscal plan comes in under the tax cap for the fifth consecutive year and sets the stage for the county to qualify for the NY State Tax Freeze program for 2016 for STAR eligible properties.
Of the nearly 40 percent of properties in Chenango that are STAR eligible, most may see an average refund of $17 through the Tax Freeze program.
What’s more, the planned budget maintains the county’s repaving and equipment replacement plan for county roads; finalizes an expansion project at the county landfill without incurring any debt; sees a saving of about $87,000 per year that was created by moving the county court system and mental health offices to new locations; continues all county-run programs for another year; and increases spending by $1.48 million (or 1.7 percent) from 2015’s total of $86.9 million.
“To guide us in our budgeting, we rely on the six financial precepts established by the Board of Supervisors several years ago,” explained County Treasurer William Craine.
Those six precepts:
• Have a balanced budget using reasonable revenue and expense expectations
• Adhere to the tax cap (with exception to exigent circumstances)
• Maintain a New York Comptroller’s rating of “Not in fiscal stress”
• Remain debt free
• Maintain a minimum $15 million unrestricted surplus
• Apply no more than 2 percent of the general and social services budget toward the following year’s budget
While Chenango County has been able to adhere to most of those standards, said Craine, officials are currently developing a long-term plan of keeping $15 million unrestricted surplus, and applying less than 2 percent of the general budget toward the following year’s budget.
In a letter to The Evening Sun, Craine explained that using less carryover to balance a new year’s budget will help keep Chenango off the sate comptroller’s list of fiscally stressed municipalities, thereby by preventing an increase in the cost of operations and taxes in the form of higher audit and interest charges.
“A number of years ago, the amount applied to balance the following year’s budget reached about 5 percent of the budget,” the letter states. “Since you should not have that much money left in a well prepared budget, we found ourselves eating into our surplus. Basically, we are eating our seed corn.”
Officials are developing a plan to reduce the amount of carryover to balance the annual budget while simultaneously preparing for the end funding that’s made available through the tobacco settlement. Chenango receives nearly $700,000 per year through the tobacco settlement, 90 percent of which are used to lower property taxes. However, those funds are expected to cease by 2025.