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Sloan tax rate to decrease slightly; fund balance, upgrades discussed
Sloan residents will have slightly lower taxes to pay for the 2007-08 fiscal year, as village officials approved a budget by a 3-1 vote that contains a larger fund balance, one of several topics discussed at last Wednesday's budget hearing.
Sloan's total budget is $1,683,362, which contains an increase of 6.48 percent in expenditures. The tax rate was approved at $16.49 per $1,000 of assessed valuation of village properties, a decrease of about four cents from the 2006-07 rate.
Overall, the amount to be raised by taxes is $1,073,041.
The village budgeted $22,500 to be paid to Modern Corporation of Lewiston, which handles garbage collection and disposal in Sloan. The Niagara County sanitation company in February billed Sloan $90,000 in undercharges that accumulated from 2003 through 2006. Although village officials are still having discussions with Modern officials, Mayor Leonard Szymanski anticipates paying $22,500 over each of the next four years to the waste company.
The village also budgeted $110,000 in its 2007-08 fund balance, an amount which Trustee Anthony Sisti disputed.
Sisti, who voted against the budget, claimed that the tax rate should have been further lowered rather than beefing up the fund balance.
"If we have more money, let's knock the tax rate down. People have endured about a 35 percent raise in taxes a couple years ago," Sisti said of the previous large hike in taxes to recover from alleged misappropriations by the former Sloan administration. "Let's give them a break. This village couldn't exist without the people...There is no thought in my mind that this budget can't go down."
Sisti added that the village tax rate should have been about $15.83 per $1,000, stating, "I can go out and buy a new (Sloan) fire truck and still not raise taxes."
However, Debbie Smith, the village's clerk-treasurer, and Dick Gryksa, the Sloan accountant, said the fund balance must be stocked accordingly, but not too high, to properly manage village finances. Gryksa stated that the village received a onetime emergency grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the freak snowstorm in October, an amount the village needs to put into its budget for future unanticipated events.
"You need to have a surplus of money available in case of a major issue that could arise," said Gryksa.
Smith said the previous administration appropriated as much as $250,000 in a year in its fund balance, depleting the village of its savings and leaving a debt of $142,000 to the current administration, which took over two years ago. Gryksa said the debt figure was established following an investigation by an independent internal auditor.
Smith and Gryksa added that the former administration also did not raise taxes in small increments over a period of a few years, a move that partly contributed to the large tax rate hike two years ago.
Other expenditures include an $11,000 increase in general repairs to various village buildings as well as increases in pay to Department of Public Works employees (now $151,000); $13,500 for repair of village
equipment and capital outlay; decrease of $10,000 in the contingent
account to $25,000; a decrease of $5,000 in tree trimming and removal (now $2,500); and $9,000 to replace chairs and tables at the Sloan Fire Hall.
"We've got a few bucks to buy some things, and we want to stand on our own two feet with things," said Szymanski, who added that officials in the Town of Cheektowaga and Village of Depew had lent Sloan several appliances. "I'm not cutting services. We as a board are always open to people to come in with suggestions or comments."
Smith said the highway department's recent purchase of a scissor-jack lift created much of the decrease associated with work on trees in the village.
Sloan resident Debbie Hammer felt the fire hall maintenance expenditure was too high, stating, "I don't want the village to spend money as soon as we save it."
However, Smith and newly elected board Trustee Judith Calhoon said replacing the current chairs and tables could prevent a lawsuit occurring following a potential injury.
"I feel, personally, that you need decent chairs (at the fire hall)," said Calhoon, who added that her husband is involved in purchasing and selling tables and other appliances at his job. "It's an expensive process. It's a marketing thing as well, if you're providing services to residents. You need something sturdy there."
Smith said some of the current tables at the fire hall are simply unusable.
"At functions, we have to weed out the bad tables," the clerk/treasurer said. "I'm concerned about liability."
Village resident Jerry Imiola said spending a substantial amount of funds on new equipment inside the fire hall is more important than incurring a lawsuit.
"If you can modernize (the setup with new chairs and tables), you can raise the rent and bring in more people," Imiola said. "(The $9,000 expenditure) is a lot of money, but one lawsuit would cost more in the long run."
Other budget costs include: $12,960 in auditing and accounting, $30,000 in treasurer and personal services, $26,668 in Social Security and $500 to budget officer (Sisti) and personal services.
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