Orangetown Sizing Up 2014 Budget Challenge

The Orangetown Council entered the 2014 budget process with the stated goal of keeping any tax increase as low as possible, preferably under the state tax levy cap.

That job became more difficult when the state when a low consumer price index led the New York State comptroller's office to announce the cap for the coming year would be 1.66 percent.

The Orangetown Council got a clearer picture of the challenge ahead of them at a special budget meeting Saturday, with a series of presentations by Orangetown department heads. The Orangetown Police Department had already made its budget proposal last week and the few remaining are set for the town board meeting 7:30 p.m. Monday at town hall and the workshop the following week.

Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart cautioned against growing too concerned regarding the requests from the department heads, which are part of the information gathering by the council and the Orangetown Finance Department. Finance Director Jeff Bencik said last week that he encouraged the department heads to include their capital requests knowing they could be cut if necessary, but he thought it was important for the town council to hear from the department heads on the matter.

As he did during the discussion of the Orangetown Police budget last week. Councilman Denis Troy said he thinks the department heads should have been asked to make more cuts before submitting their proposals. 

Stewart's tentative budget will be released Sept. 24, though the final budget vote will not be until November. 

Most of the expense increases were a mixture of contractually-mandated salary increases and capital requests. For example, Parks and Recreation Director Aric Gorton acknowledged some of the capital requests he made for that department and for town facilities were large, but necessary. He brought up the need to renovate Orangetown Town Hall, which has been put off for many years in part because of ongoing discussions of moving it. 

"For four and a half years, we've been told we're moving, so don't put money in it," Gorton said. "We haven't moved and the building keeps getting older. The facade out front is starting to fall apart. We need to take the next step. Either bring in a consultant for what we need for this building or to tell us what our real needs are to go somewhere else."

There are also contractual increases such as the fee for the town's use of the pool at South Orangetown Middle School, which the town uses for a number of programs, including its day camp. Gorton said much of that is made up in revenue from those programs.

Capital expenses also created a relatively high increase requested by Department of Environmental Management and Engineering Director Joe Moran. 

The Highway Department is another one of the largest in Orangetown. Highway Superintendent James Dean recommended approximately $922,000 in spending on equipment to keep up with his department's 10-year replacement program, especially after deferring purchases in 2012 and 2013. 

The concern with deferring purchases of equipment and vehicles is that the older ones the town is still using will start to break down, creating more expenses. The Highway Department faces the addition issue of maintaining the town's roads.

"If we don't keep up the maintenance program, you may not see it next year, but I guarantee you will see it the year after," Dean said. "You will see potholes and hear the complaints for that. If (the roads) are not taken care of, they will deteriorate quickly."

Councilman Tom Diviny said the town should pursue grants for such items, citing many available that are related to the construction of the new Tappan Zee Bridge, but that can be a challenge.

"A lot of the grants are targeted," Dean said. "I haven't seen a lot for equipment, or I'd be on it."

Dean said using the Highway Department's reserves could be an option. Bencik has also raised the issue of possibly bonding to pay for some of the capital expenses requested by the departments. 

One item discussed that will not impact the 2014 budget is the proposed elimination of the Tax Receiver's office, which would not take effect for four years even if it the referendum on the move passes in November. Stewart asked Receiver of Taxes Bob Simon for a report on the potential savings of the move to provide the information to residents. Bencik estimated that the highest the savings could be is $100,000. The department's entire budget is $180,000, but some of that would move over to the Town Clerk's office along with the responsibility for the receiver's duties.