Tonight (2020-09-28) was a meeting of the Mendon Town Board.
The meeting location was double booked, with the local Scouts holding an event of some sort inside. So the Town Board opted to meet in the pavilion out back. Worked well enough, although it was rather dark by the end. A better option when the sun is up longer, but at least it wasn’t the middle of winter.
The Town received it’s fiscal stress report. The numbers sounded good, well below the ‘concerned’ level. The State website for checking these numbers was mentioned, if you have any interest in looking up any particular municipality.
The radios recently purchased for the fire departments are showing their budgetary impact. Both as a tax hike for the Fire District, and contract increase with the Village. I’m not surprised by this, as it has been talked about for a while.
2021 Tentative Budget has become the 2021 Preliminary Budget, after a few minor tweaks. Public hearing was scheduled for the next meeting, October 19. Under this budget the tax rate is unchanged. Doesn’t mean your tax bill is unchanged, as there are a number of other factors involved (changes in assessment, other taxing entities, etc). Having said that, I think a stable tax rate is the right way to do property taxes. Makes it more predictable from the residents standpoint, and encourages fiscal responsibility from the government.
Capitol Improvement Program will also have a public hearing next month. Hopefully it will be posted on the website before too long, so it can be easily reviewed. Past plans are available, to give a sense of what this is. In a nutshell, it’s the replacement plan for various equipment and properties.
Concerns about the Lima Ambulance came up again. Apparently they are having difficulty maintaining their volunteers, a problem that appears to be impacting many organizations. By the sounds of it, they are planning to get this sorted out, and thus resolve the issue. Which the Mendon Town Board was fine with, even as they expressed concerns around the situation.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the September 28, 2020 meeting of the Mendon Town Board.
Link to agenda on Town website until they update it, losing the past.