The Town Board Meeting - held at 6:00 PM on October 7 - was in part ceremonial. The handing to the Town Board Members the Supervisor's Tentative Budget for 2025 by the Town Clerk. There were more than the "average" number of citizens in attendance at this meeting - meaning with only one topic on the agenda, and no opportunity for citizens to speak and no "hot topic" on the agenda - it showed the level of engagement by the public.
The Supervisor prefaced this momentus occasion (the physical handing over of the budget) by explaining that while this process was not followed by certain previous administrations (ahem), this is the process that has been followed in the past and there are legislative obligations and privileges mandated by NY State Law provided to Town Supervisors in managing a town's budget development process. The Supervisor is considered the "CFO" of the town and is responsible for the financial records, audits and reporting to the state.
The Supervisor emphasized that the Town is in good financial shape and that there have been a number of changes in 2024 that further strenghtened that position - mandating that all employees clock in and out on their work days, that Department Heads are on salary vs. hourly wages, a number of services being conducted by town staff vs. being outsourced and the introduction of new financial software that gives Department Heads a better view of their expenses vs. budget and communication between departments. This software eliminated the need (and expense) for a payroll service and will soon have a public facing portal, enabling taxpayers to see their tax records and pay taxes etc. Also, better management of the Town's financial resources have resulted in increased return on investments - which if was done in earlier years would have netted the town over $4 Million dollars.
He and the Town's controller presented a high level overview of the tentative budget of approximately $20 Million dollars, with anticipated revenues and grants will mean that the Tax Levy will be approxiately $9 Million dollars. That is under the NY State Tax cap - and will result in a tax rate reduction from $1.70/$1000 of property value to $1.59/$1000 of property value (please keep in mind that valuations have generally increased) - but it is still a remarkable achievement as compared to say... oh the school taxes. This in face of increases in medical insurance (which one board member commented where outside their control... .which isn't exactly true, yes insurance company rates continue to increase, but private companies have become quite imaginative in managing their insurance premiums by shifting some costs to employees, reducing coverage for part-time employees etc.), debt payments and ambulance service costs have increased - Bill Beale helpfully explained for the umpteenth time that all Towns in Dutchess County are working hard to manage emergency services costs/coverage and that Wappinger is in a better position than other towns.
The tentative budget includes funding for the Town's 150 year anniversary next year, improvements in the building & grounds facilities providing a safer, more comfortable environment for those employees and adding 2 new summer camps.
The Town Council Members sat stone faced through the presentation, commenting afterwards that they have not seen the budget yet (we all knew that), that they need to review it and that they anticipate that they will be recommending changes.
Given how the 2024 budget was passed with a quick workshop on a weekend, with changes recommended the following Monday - and passed in a blink of an eye - with an announced tax levy % - that doesn't match anyone's tax bill that arrived in February... and still can't be calculated from the numbers presented.... this is a refreshing change to the budget process. We can only hope that the Town Board Members remember that their decisions have very real consequences to town taxpayers, town residents/ businesses and town employees ... and that the budget is not a place to play out their crankiness with each other and personal feelings about Town programs or services.
The meeting adjourned to an "executive session" for a personnel matter (not disclosed) - and after about 45 minutes the public grew tired and left before the meeting was formally adjourned.
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