November 18, 2008


TOWN OF OWEGO 2009 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 2009 Final TOWN WIDE and TOWN OUTSIDE tax rate stated per $1,000 of assessed valuation:

TOWN WIDE $0.851995

TOWN OUTSIDE $2.030134

TOTAL $2.882129

2009 Final Budget Message

The 2009 Final Budget includes a 20% increase in health insurance premiums for 2009 and no increase in dental insurance premiums. Workman’s Compensation costs for the Town are staying level for 2009. Contributions to the State of New York’s retirement system are projected to be set at approximately 8% of payroll costs, which is approximately $35,000 less than last year. The extreme volatility of the costs of petroleum products and related supplies over this past year has put a severe strain 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 $55.98. (65.7 x $0.851995= $55.98). This total amount is $0.18 higher than the average Village resident paid this year. (An average Village residence in 2008 assessed at $65,700 paid $55.80 for Town taxes.)

An average residence outside the Village is assessed at approximately $99,000. Therefore, for 2009 total Town taxes on an average residence will be $285.33. ($84.35 Town Wide (99 x $0.851995= $84.35) and $207.32 Town Outside (99 x $2.030134= $200.98)). For 2008, total Town taxes on an average residence that was assessed at $99,000 were $272.05. ($84.09 Town Wide and $187.96 Town Outside). Therefore an average residential taxpayer that pays both the Town Wide and Town Outside rate will pay, on average, $13.28 in additional total Town taxes next year.

In 2009, there will be changes to our water and sewer rates as follows:

The current water charge of $3.19 per thousand gallons of water will increase to $3.38 per thousand gallons. For homeowners the $66.00 per year water capital charge will increase to $76.86 per year ($25.62/bill). The 2009 water capital charge will be paying the principal and interest on a $3.7 million bond that was needed for the major upgrade that was done to the Town’s water system. The Town installed emergency power to all its wells and refurbished or replaced the town’s six aging water tanks. An average residential water user that uses 60,000 gallons of water per year will see an increase in their yearly water charges of $11.40 for water and an increase of $10.86 for the water capital charge for a combined yearly water increase of $22.26.
The sewer charge which is based on water consumption is currently $3.60 per thousand gallons of water. The 2009 rate will be $3.71 per thousand gallons of water. For homeowners the $66.00 per year capital charge will increase to $81.60 per year ($27.20/bill). This increase is due to the principal and interest payments due on the $1.9 million bond for the replacement of 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. An average residential sewer user that uses 60,000 gallons of water per year will see an increase in their yearly sewer charges of $6.60 for sewer and $15.60 for the sewer capital charge for a combined yearly sewer increase of $22.20.

Homes that have municipal sewer but do not have municipal water will be charged $222.60 per year ($74.20/bill) for sewer use and also charged the $81.60 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.