It's that time of year again — time for the government officials at the Town of Wawarsing to work out their annual budget for the following year. Town Board members John Gavaris, Tom Geelan, Terry Houck, and Theresa Hyatt, along with Town Supervisor Ed Jennings, have been working closely with Town Comptroller Pat Althouse to craft the new budget for 2009, meeting for hours at a time during seven different budget workshops throughout the month of October.

On the grand scale, the overall 2009 budget is projected at about $10.15 million, a 7.7% increase over 2008's $9.42 million.

The real property tax revenue for the budget will go from $5.47 million to $5.77 million, which will result in an increase of about 5.4%. However, this doesn't tell the whole property tax story. According to Comptroller Althouse, the Taxable Assessed Value for properties in the Town of Wawarsing has fallen from 2008 to 2009, a figure which comes from Ulster County. 2008's figure was $18,845,216, whereas 2009's figure is $18,631,584, a drop of $213,632 — or 1.13%. This translates in a total property tax increase of 5.31%, with property taxes rising from $110.71 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $116.59 per $1,000. So for every $1,000 at which a property is assessed, the owner's taxes will rise $5.88.

The town board also seems to have heeded the advice of one of their own; Town Councilman Tom Geelan asked the rest of the board at the October 2 meeting to eschew the board's customary salary increase in light of the current bleak economic situation. The 2009 salaries for the town board members comes in at $11,257.50, with three of the four board members receiving an extra $3,000 for an insurance buyout, totaling $53,990 combined. The town supervisor's salary stayed consistent from 2008 as well, coming in at $43,384. The highway superintendant and town justices' salaries also stayed the same from 2008 to 2009.

The raise in the overall budget comes from rising costs which are beyond the town's control, such as supplies and equipment for the highway department. The prices for oil and blacktop have risen, and as a result, Comptroller Althouse estimates an increase of about 15% for the highway department. Town Supervisor Ed Jennings also reports that the budget for Social Services has risen from $160,000 to $200,000, due in large part to rising energy costs, and the town will see a 15% raise in electric and lighting costs, too.

"Everybody was in complete agreement, which I thought was very nice," says Althouse. "I think the board did a very good job. We worked very hard on this budget… Ed and the board's concern was keeping it as low as possible as low as possible for the people in the area."

Althouse also reports that 2008's fiscal year seems to be right on track, and will likely come in slightly under budget at the end of December.

The public hearing to discuss the new budget will take place at the next town board meeting on Thursday, November 6 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall on Canal Street. After the hearing, the board will vote to adopt the budget with whatever amendments come out of the hearing, and send it off to Kingston.

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