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November 7, 2007 TOWN OF OWEGO 2008 FINAL BUDGET INFORMATION BY CAROL SWEENEY, TOWN SUPERVISOR The Town receives its operating revenue through two tax rates. The TOWN WIDE rate is paid by everyone in the Town including those people living in the Village of Owego. The TOWN OUTSIDE rate is paid only by those people who live outside the Village. These two tax rates are needed because the people in the Village do not receive some Town services (i.e. snow plowing, road repair, etc.) and legally cannot be charged for them. They instead pay for these services through their Village taxes. Examples of what the TOWN WIDE rate covers include the cost of the following services: Town Clerk and Tax Collector, Town Attorney, Assessor, Dog Control, Town Supervisor and Board, Town Court, Coburn Library, Summer Youth Program, Town Historian and Worker’s Compensation costs for Village and Town Firefighters. The TOWN OUTSIDE rate covers such things as Highways (Paving, Snow Removal, Brush and Leaf Pickup, Machinery), School Crossing Guards, Hickories Park and other Town parks, Apalachin Library and Planning and Zoning. The Utilities Department (Water and Sewer) is not funded by Town taxes but is supported entirely through user fees. The following is the projected 2008 Final TOWN WIDE and TOWN OUTSIDE tax rate stated per $1,000 of assessed valuation: TOWN WIDE $0.848377 TOWN OUTSIDE $1.895788 TOTAL $2.744164 2008 FINAL BUDGET MESSAGE This 2008 Final Budget includes no increase in health insurance premiums for 2008 and a projected 4% increase in dental insurance premiums. Workman’s Compensation costs for the Town are increasing by about 13 % for 2008. Contributions to the State of New York’s retirement system are projected to be set at approximately 9 % of payroll costs. The costs of petroleum products and related supplies continue to have a negative impact on this budget. Residential taxpayers that pay only the Town Wide rate (Village residents) will pay on an average residential Village assessment of $65,700 total Town taxes of $55.74. (65.7 x $0.848377= $55.74) This total amount is $0.19 lower than the average Village resident paid this year. (An average Village residence in 2007 assessed at $65,700 paid $55.93 for Town taxes.) An average residence outside the Village is assessed at approximately $99,000. Therefore, for 2008 total Town taxes on an average residence will be $271.67. ($83.99 Town Wide (99 x $0.848377= $83.99) and $187.68 Town Outside (99 x $1.895788= $187.68)). For 2007, total Town taxes on an average residence that was assessed at $99,000 were $263.47. ($84.28 Town Wide and $179.19 Town Outside). Therefore an average residential taxpayer that pays both the Town Wide and Town Outside rate will pay, on average, $8.20 in additional total Town taxes next year. In 2008, there will be changes to our water and sewer rates as follows: The current water charge of $3.00 per thousand gallons of water will increase to $3.10 per thousand gallons. For homeowners the $54.00 per year water capital charge will increase to $66.00 per year ($22.00/bill). The 2008 water capital charge will be paying the interest on a $3.7 million bond that was needed for the major upgrade that is being done this year to the Town’s water system. The Town is installing emergency power to its wells and is refurbishing or replacing the town’s six aging water tanks. The sewer charge which is based on water consumption is currently $3.50 per thousand gallons of water. The 2008 rate will be $3.60 per thousand gallons of water. For homeowners the $51.00 per year capital charge will increase to $66.00 per year ($22.00/bill). This increase is due to the additional interest due on the $1.9 million bond for the Town replacing the digester covers at the Apalachin Sewer Plant. The entire sewer capital charge is used toward debt payments for our two sewer plants and sewer infrastructure. Homes that have municipal sewer but do not have municipal water will be charged $216.00 per year for sewer use and also charged the $66.00 per year sewer capital fee. These budget figures are based also on camping rates at the Hickories staying the same which is $19 per night for water and electric and $14 per night for tent sites.
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