Walden looking to trim $500,000 from budget

By Connor Linskey
Posted 4/21/21

The Village of Walden’s tentative budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year is down approximately $500,000 from the current fiscal year.

As of Tuesday morning, the total appropriations for this …

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Walden looking to trim $500,000 from budget

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The Village of Walden’s tentative budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year is down approximately $500,000 from the current fiscal year.

As of Tuesday morning, the total appropriations for this year are $11,126,717, which is down from this year’s budget of $11,642,844. Funding for debt service took the largest decrease from the current fiscal year, falling more than $700,000. In next year’s tentative budget the funding for public safety is down approximately $70,000. Though the total appropriations are down, the tentative budget features approximately a $150,000 increase from the current fiscal year.

Regarding property tax rate calculation, the assessed value of taxable properties is up approximately $500,000. As it currently stands, the assessed value of taxable properties for 2021-2022 is $287,765,002, whereas the figure in this year’s adopted budget is $287,247,048. The tax cap rate in the tentative budget is up from the current year. The tentative budget tax cap rate for the upcoming year is 2.58 percent, an increase of 0.39 percent from this year. The amount to be raised by property tax for village operations is $5,019,349 and the percent increase in the tax levy is 1.16 percent.

In the tentative budget for the upcoming fiscal year, each trustee as well as the deputy mayor will earn a raise of $125 bringing their salaries to $6,375. The mayor is scheduled to earn a raise of $155, which would bring his salary up to $7,905. In the upcoming fiscal year, Walden Village Manager John Revella is expected to earn $108,718, which is an increase of approximately $2,300. The village justice and clerk are scheduled to earn slight raises while the treasurer is scheduled to earn a substantial raise of a little more than $8,000.

Longtime Police Chief Jeff Holmes retired last July. William Herlihy, his replacement, will earn about $5,000 less. The superintendent of highways is slated to earn roughly the same salary, although it appears he will likely make an additional $1,000 in the upcoming fiscal year. Michael Bliss, the village’s recreation coordinator, is expected to earn an additional $15,000 on top of his current salary of $70,691.

In the upcoming fiscal year, the village board recommends $37,500 for their personal services. Meanwhile, the village justice personal services tentative budget for next year is $97,706, which is up nearly $3,000 from the current fiscal year. The overtime figure budgeted for the village justice remains at $9,000, which is the same as last year. As it stands, the mayor’s personal services budget for next year will receive a two percent increase. This is roughly consistent with the village manager’s personal services budget, which is slated to receive a 2.2 percent increase. The clerk is likely to have a personal services budget of $58,958, which is a 2.2 increase over the current fiscal year.

In comparison, the treasurer is expected to have an additional 7.91 percent budgeted for personal services, however the money budgeted for the treasurer’s overtime is down 25 percent in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The recommendation for summer youth employment for the next fiscal year is $4,875, which is more than four times the amount that was appropriated for this fiscal year.

In addition, $40,000 is budgeted for building maintenance, which is a substantial uptick of 30.83 percent from the 2020-2021 budget. The buildings and natural gas heating expense that is currently budgeted is $6,000, which is the same as this year.

The budget for the police department’s personal services is significant, as $1,184,029.00 is currently budgeted for next year. Although this is a substantial figure, funding is down 5.44 percent from the current fiscal year. The tentative budget for the police department’s overtime is also down, decreasing by 20 percent. In addition, $12,000 is budgeted for ammunition and weapons, which is an increase of roughly 15 percent from the current fiscal year. Budgeting for foot patrol personal services is up 8.57 percent, while the funding for overtime took a big hit, tumbling 46.56 percent.

Regarding street maintenance in next year’s budget, the personal services funding tentatively has a 3.75 percent increase over the current fiscal year. The budget for materials and supplies is down significantly, from $1,000 to $500.

For snow removal, the budget for salt and sand materials remains the same. Parks could soon be spruced up in the upcoming fiscal year, since an additional 18.18 percent is budgeted for beautification. Funding for Bradley and Wooster Parks is up significantly in next year’s tentative budget, earning an increase of 46.84 percent and 57.26 percent.

Personal services for the youth program is down 36.34 percent in the tentative budget. $88,709 is budgeted for next year, whereas $139,347 was budgeted for this year. Also, funding for entertainment and trips is down 52.83 percent, since $5,000 is budgeted for this year and $10,600 is in the funding for this year.

In regards to adult recreation, the funding for entertainment is down an astounding 78.33 percent. $27,685 was funded for this fiscal year and $6,000 is tentatively budgeted for next year.

Village of Walden employees will be pleased to see that the budget for the state retirement is up 17.86 percent. The funding for the fire and police department’s retirement is also up 22.4 percent in the next fiscal year’s budget. Meanwhile, social security, medicare and workers compensation benefits are down slightly, ranging from decreases of approximately two to four percent. The budget for unemployment insurance is currently $4,000, which is down more than 40 percent from this year.

The budget for personal services for water administration is up approximately 10 percent from the current year. Water administration equipment is down approximately 50 percent, from $1,000 this year to $500 next year. Funding for radio repairs is down astronomically from $2,129.70 to $1,000.

Funding for power and pump testing has doubled in the tentative budget. In addition, funding for generator repairs and maintenance is up 14.29 percent from last year. In total, the budget for the water fund in the upcoming fiscal year is $912,250.42, which is down from $942,718.

Regarding the budget for the sewer, its administration personal services are projected to be down 11.56 percent for the upcoming fiscal year. Like in the water fund, the budget for generator repairs and maintenance is up to $5,500 from $3,000 this year. Radio repairs also saw a decrease of 76.52 percent in funding. The budget for small mechanics tools increased a whopping 191.26 percent from this year’s budget to the upcoming tentative budget. In total, the sewer budget projected for next year is $1,050,050, which is down approximately one percent from this year.

Mary Ellen Matise, former Walden trustee and deputy mayor, was concerned about the water and sewer systems.

“Capital costs for water and sewer systems are astronomical,” she said. “The sewer is still facing issues brought about by the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation).”

The cost for water fund capital projects in the 2021-2022 tentative budget totals $180,000. Among these projects is the Well 8 piping and rehabilitation, which costs $50,000 and the Well 7 pump replacement and treatment, which costs $40,000. Well exploration, drilling and testing is estimated to cost $50,000.

Capital projects for the sewer fund are projected to cost $2,650,000. The village plans to replace the sewer plant generator with a unit that costs $135,000. Per DEC consent order, the village aims to upgrade their Sewage Treatment Plant Headworks. The evaluation is occuring at this time. This evaluation is for providing more hydraulic capacity at the village’s sewer plant. The estimated ballpark cost of these improvements is $1,400,000. Among the other sewer improvements, the village plans to remove the bypass at the Tin Brook Pump Station by retrofitting new pumps and control panels.

Walden Deputy Mayor Willie Carley spoke highly of the next year’s tentative budget.

“I think it’s pretty sound,” he said. “We did our best to stay within the tax cap.”