By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – A tentative budget proposal issued by Ogdensburg City Manger Sarah Purdy includes borrowing $1 million, increasing the tax levy by more than $500,000 and calls for cutting services.

A second option presented in the budget proposal would forgo the borrowing, and instead raises the levy by $1.5 million.

Under the first option the city tax rate would rise 10.5 percent from $17.36 to $19.20 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Purdy said this will be about $183 more in taxes per year for the average homeowner.

If the city forgoes borrowing $1 million the tax rate would rise 31.8 percent to $22.89 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The proposal would reduce funding for the public library and Remington museum by $29,340.

To better prepare for possible problems down the road, the new budget would grow the contingency frond by $171,719.

Other major expenditure increases in the general fund include public safety, which would rise by $360,729 and public works, which would increase by $164,590. That increase in the general fund is partially due to a shift from police and fire pay, which was apparently coming in part from water and sewer fees.

In a letter to the city council City Manager Sarah Purdy highlights the need for a major increase in tax revenues.

“The proposed 2017 budget reflects the need to restore and rebuild the city’s eroding financial foundation. This is a challenging task, particularly when the city’s waste water treatment plant is in deplorable condition and when the fund balance resources that have been used in previous budgets to off sent expenses are greatly diminished,” she said.

Purdy also notifies councilors that the currently level of services offered by the city are no longer feasible.

“Continuing at the current level of services is unsustainable,” Purdy says in her letter. “The proposed budget goes as far as it can to make $698,307 in reductions without triggering loss of services or lay offs. Council and the public is needed in order to make further reductions and determine, which service are eliminated,” she says.

Ogdensburg City Councilors will spend the next several weeks modifying the proposal, which is likely to see significant changes prior to passage.