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Positions removed from budget, 'credit' for Depew police raised
A handful of positions added by Town Supervisor Dennis H. Gabryszak in his tentative budget were removed Monday by the Town Board, and further changes will give residents in Depew a tax break in the final 2007 budget adopted by the board.
Two full-time positions proposed by Gabryszak, a computer support assistant and a records inventory clerk, were eliminated by the board. The board also dropped a part-time law clerk intended to staff the justice court.
Cheektowaga currently has one full-time and two part-time records inventory clerks. The two part-time positions would have been eliminated if the second full-time position remained in the budget.
However, two part-time code enforcement officers for the sanitation department remain in the budget.
Gabryszak's budget, unveiled last month, featured a slight decrease in the tax rate.
The final changes, which all affect the town's general fund, allowed for a $61,376 reduction in spending.
Cheektowaga's 2007 total budget is $75.79 million, of which $40.98 million is listed in the general fund.
Although the tax rate will fall, spending is still up roughly 2.5 percent. A hike in property assessments and additional revenue from state sources enabled the town to reduce its tax rate.
Gabryszak thanked his department heads for the time they put into their individual budgets.
"It shows that we were able to meet the needs of the departments, service the people and still be able to bring a small decrease to the residents," Gabryszak stated.
Residents who live outside the vil- lages will pay property taxes of $19.68 per assessed thousand dollars, a 17-cent drop from 2006. The tentative budget included a 16-cent reduction.
Sloan residents and the handful of residents who live in Cheektowaga's small portion of Williamsville will see virtually no change in their tax rate. The 2007 rate is $13.709 per thousand, down six-tenths of one cent from 2006.
Residents who live in the Cheektowaga portion of Depew will receive a slight tax reduction with the final budget, erasing a tax hike proposed in the tentative budget.
Cheektowaga's general fund includes police services. A $325,000 annual tax "credit" given to the Village of Depew because it has its own police department was raised $36,000.
"That reimbursement allowed us to bring a slight increase that they had down to a decrease," Gabryszak said.
Instead of an 11.6-cent hike in the Depew tax rate, residents will receive a four-cent decrease. The 2006 Depew tax rate was $12.354 per assessed thousand dollars. The 2007 budget calls for a tax rate of $12.31 per thousand.
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