With the preliminary budget, New Windsor Town Supervisor George Meyers is satisfied with the current fiscal state of the town going forward into 2023.

“We stayed under the tax cap again and we have a pretty good record of doing that. It was a little more difficult this year because of the inflation,” Meyers stated.

The budget has been prepared by Comptroller Doreen Casey and her team. Meyers and additional town board members have recognized Casey and her team for their efforts in preparing the final documents for review.

In the preliminary budget for the Town of New Windsor, the 2023 fiscal year will see a tax levy increase of 2.83% or $485,588 over the 2022 budget but will remain under the tax cap for another year. In 2023, the tax bill for an average single-family home in the town would increase by 2.520% or $53.87. For the preliminary budget, the overall budget is listed at $45.8 million with the proposed general fund amount at $23.11 million, the proposed highway fund amount is listed at $5.1 million, the water fund is $9.04 million and the sewer fund at $3.28 million.

According to Meyers, the New Windsor EMS has seen an increase heading into 2023. Addressing the increase in the ambulance fund, the 2023 number currently stands at 1.41% or $56.74 which translates to a 16.88% increase. The reason for the increase is due to the volunteer numbers dwindling. Now the hybrid model of a paid and volunteer emergency personnel is how the town will operate. “The ambulance fund has gone up because of the lack of volunteers, and we now have a whole lot more paid staff than we have volunteers,” stated Meyers.

Heading into 2023, the police department will see a decrease in payroll due to several retirements and there is no intent to fill these positions as stated by Meyers. Each of the fire departments within the town have already submitted their budgets for review, in which Meyers stated he did not see a significant increase.

The 2023 Salaries for town elected officials are listed as followed: Town Supervisor salary at $134,000, Town Council Members salaries at $18,900, Town Clerk salary at $93,300, Town Justice’s salaries at $53,000, Receiver of Taxes salary at $93,300 and the Highway Superintendent at $85,300.

Heading into 2023, New Windsor payrolls increased by one percent, the highway fund has also seen increases at 9.12% from the previous year and the town will be heading into its third year of its five year pavement replacement plan. The town hall and additional offices have been updated with roof replacements also at the town hall, the ambulance corps building and senior center. The water rates for the town have also slightly increased. With the Kiryas Joel pipeline still being worked on and when connected, Meyers stated that residents will not see any impact to their water bills.

“We have the public hearing in November, we’ll see if anybody comments and what the board thinks but to me, I think the rates have stayed pretty good,” said Meyers.

The entire prepared preliminary budget is available on the town website for public viewing. The public will have the opportunity to share their comments and feedback on the preliminary budget during a public hearing set for November 2 at 7 p.m.