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Village of Potsdam approves $10.3 million budget with 5.1 percent tax rate hike

Posted 4/29/16

By CRAIG FREILICH The Village of Potsdam has approved a budget calling for $10,325,536 in spending for 2017-17, up $140,234 from last year, or 1.4 percent. The tax rate will increase 5.1 percent, up …

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Village of Potsdam approves $10.3 million budget with 5.1 percent tax rate hike

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

The Village of Potsdam has approved a budget calling for $10,325,536 in spending for 2017-17, up $140,234 from last year, or 1.4 percent.

The tax rate will increase 5.1 percent, up 83¢ per thousand dollars of assessed property valuation, from $16.32 to $17.15 per thousand. That would generate a village property tax bill of $1,286.25 on a $75,000 property, up from $1,224, or an increase of $62.25. On a $150,000 property, taxes would go from $2,448 to $2,572.50, or $124.50 more.

Mayor Ron Tischler was complimentary of the "wonderful job" Administrator Everett Basford, Clerk/Treasurer Lori Queor and the trustees did "to keep it as tight as possible but realistic."

Tischler acknowledged the village is working its way out of a fiscal hole that has drawn the attention of the state comptroller, whose office labeled village finances in February as the most "fiscally stressed" of any village in the state.

"There are no inflated revenues" in the new budget, Tischler said, referring to one aspect of village accounting that was in part to blame for the comptroller's designation.

The amount the village will raise through property taxes is set at $6,735,426, up almost $400,000 or 6.3 percent from last year. That is much higher than the state tax cap on levies this year but the board, which voted 4-0 to approve the budget, was easily above the 60 percent of board members required to exceed the cap.

In an earlier version of the budget adopted last week, Tischler said, spending was up by about 4 percent, "but sales tax revenue was down and that brought it up to 5.1 percent -- still better than the 8.3 percent last year."

Water and sewer rates were held steady, at least for now while the village studies with the development Authority of the North Country an Equivalency Dwelling Unit method of accounting for water and sewer use.

"Nothing will change probably before the first of the year," he said, and hoped whatever came out of the study would result in "perhaps a slight increase, and maybe a decrease."