BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

CANTON -- The Canton town board has begun work on next year's budget and Town Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley said the municipality is facing several challenges in the wake of the pandemic which will require tough decisions, hard cuts and a tax increase.

The board held a budget work session Wednesday, Sept. 2, and began to mull over the coming year's financial plan. The town needs to approve the 2021 budget by November.

Ashley is proposing a preliminary budget amount of $2,985,636 while remaining under the state mandated tax cap of 1.56%. This compares to appropriations for 2020 at $2,838,998.

The supervisor said the amount to be raised by taxes under the preliminary proposal is $1,066,974  which features a proposed tax rate change from $2.70 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $2.75 per $1,000, a tax increase of 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. 

The 2021 Taxable Assessed Property value is $387,990,588. 

Ashley told the board that decreases in traditional revenue streams and uncertainty in some state funding lead her to recommend a few cuts to the budget as well as the tax increase.

She said she is also suggesting the discontinuation of the part-time secretary/bookkeeper position in the supervisor’s office recently approved by the board and the historian’s assistant position. Other possible cuts to the budget suggested by the supervisor to make ends meet include cuts to funding for the Canton Chamber of Commerce, the VFW,  senior citizen funds and cutting the parks and recreation department budget by as much as $32,000.

During discussion, the board debated including state PaveNY and EWR funding in the coming budget, when those highway-related funds are often some of the first to get cut by the state and are uncertain. Board members suggested leaving state CHIPS money for the highway budget in the town's fiscal plan, but not counting on the PaveNY and EWB money.

Town Councilman Bob Washo said new truck requests by the highway department to replace aging vehicles should also be reviewed and he would confer with Highway Superintendent Terry Billings on whether or not the purchases are necessary for the coming year.

The board also discussed the supervisor's recommendation of cutting the rec department by $32,000. Board members suggested the town hold a joint meeting with the village board to discuss funding the department for the coming year since the department is a shared service between the two municipalities.

"I'm not prepared to take $32,000 out of recreation," said Town Councilman Jimmy Smith. "And we need to have that conversation (with the village) right off."

"It's a lot of money going to that program. And, who are we reaching with those dollars?" added Town Councilman Tim Danehy.

The board also discussed the annual allotments to the four fire departments that serve the town and determined that they needed to see a detailed budget from the Canton Fire Department to accurately distribute funding.

Ashley is proposing a 2.5 percent salary increase for town employees for the coming year, but town board members questioned the move. The proposal is based on the town's highway department union recently getting a 2.5 percent increase in their contract negotiations with the town, Ashley said.

"Then what is the point of having a contract?" asked Smith, who added that a cost of living increase would be around 1.6 percent.

"They are a bargaining unit, with good reason," added Washo. He said the jobs with that department are far different than other town positions and require a greater physical toll.

"I don't think we can be using the union contract as a guide for the rest of the staff," Washo said, and he suggested a salary increase be tied to the state tax cap instead.

Town council members also discussed expected sales tax revenue coming to the town from the county and how that might factor into crafting the coming year's budget.

Other increases in the preliminary supervisor’s budget include a proposed increase in funding for part time court clerk hours, a part time position in Code Enforcement.  The preliminary increase in health insurance costs are projected to be 6% for active employees and 4% for retirees.  

The board will hold several other work sessions on the preliminary budget before approval of a proposed plan and the budget hearing.

"This is a tough year," Ashley told the board. "We have twenty different revenue sources and none of them are guaranteed."

"Town budgets are very complicated on so many levels,” the supervisor later told North Country This Week. “The numerous funds to balance, working with projected revenue sources, sharing services, the increase in costs and the possibility of losing state funding and sales tax revenue.  We continue to provide quality public services with limited resources. We are not able to keep up with our transportation infrastructure that the public expects.  COVID-19 added a layer of unknown challenges that we never expected and are not prepared for.  We are doing our due diligence to navigate this unprecedented storm."

Don’t Miss a Story!

Keep up with local government & schools, police & fire news, help wanted ads, upcoming events, obituaries, letters from viewers, news of your friends & neighbors, & much more!
Subscribe today for just $1.44 per week
 Thank you.