This morning (2021-03-20) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls Board of Trustees for a workshop on next years budget.
Bottom line: The Village has a balanced budget to take to the public hearing. Planning to raise the tax levy to the cap, so they will also be having a public hearing to remove the local override. The local override is the required response to the tax cap law for any municipality that wants to have options as they seek to be fiscally prudent. In case anyone was wondering.
The increase in the tax levy should bring in around $12 thousand in additional revenue for the Village. Concerns were raised with how that compares to some larger expenses in the future. In particular a fire truck, the fire station construction, and an ambulance.
Much of the conversation revolved around how much to raise the tax levy (and from that the tax rate). Comparisons to other Village’s came up, and how we have a relatively low tax rate. And how increasing the levy is necessary in order to maintain long term budget health. An unfortunate reality of the tax cap law. Albany effectively removed the option of deciding tax rates locally. To the cap, because we may not be able to adjust in the future so the math demands it.
Indirectly, this is part of why I think the levy is the wrong way to look at it. I think the tax rate is a better measurement. First, it allows property owners to figure out the impact on them. Second, if all else is equal, it should self adjust for things like inflation. Property value goes up, income from property tax does too. Which should offset expenses going up as well. At least in a perfect world. Unfortunately we live in a fallen world, where perfect is only a dream.
Illustrating this imperfection, there were technical difficulties with the Zoom meeting. Not sure what exactly was going on, but in the end I went over to the office and sat in the hallway. Which, for those of you unfamiliar with the building, provides a decent position to see and hear the meeting. All while still being far enough away that I (hopefully) didn’t trigger anyone’s hypochondria.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the March 20, 2021 meeting of the Honeoye Falls Board of Trustees. Next budget meeting should be the actual adoption at the public hearing on April 5.