By Mark Reynolds
Last week, the Plattekill Town Board held a nearly two hour public hearing on the 2025 Preliminary Town Budget. Town Hall was filled with residents who questioned Supervisor Dean DePew and the town council about numerous line items in the budget. DePew reminded the public that the previous tentative budget was a ‘wish list’ from different town departments and is not the final budget.
That tentative town budget showed a 16.70 percent increase in the overall budget and the amount to be raised by taxes was $5,379,258. This is what drew significant public criticism, with some residents saying their town tax bill is more than their home mortgage and others adding they are barely surviving.
DePew pointed out that not only is inflation a factor but the cost of everything is up – oil, equipment, parts for machinery, insurance, benefits, leaving him to pose a question to the public – “Tell me what town department I can close, what employee I can get rid of.”
The Town Board took all of these comments to heart, sharpened their pencils and returned last week with a lower budget increase of 7.58 percent and the amount to be raised by taxes to $4,958,823.
Supervisor DePew reminded everyone that the Town Board has control of only certain parts of the budget, specifically the General and Highway portions and a few lighting districts. He broke out these parts of the budget, saying that the General side of the budget now stands at $3,297,728 and the Highway part of the budget is $2,098,123.
When adding up all sections of the budget, which includes the drainage districts, library, fire and lighting districts, the total town budget for 2025 hits $7,402,981, with revenues coming in of $1,844,158. By tapping $487,000 from the un-expended fund balance to lessen the tax burden, all of this results in the $4.95 million figure that will be raised through taxes.
DePew said each of the three fire districts – Modena, Clintondale and Plattekill – develop their own individual budgets, which the town board has no control over. In particular, the Plattekill Fire department’s budget stood out at $776,822, an increase of 34.75 percent from the current year. This calculation was due to the department starting to consider paid EMS service. In the intervening weeks, the department lowered their budget to $617,574, bringing their increase down to 20.53 percent.
Supervisor DePew also noted that the initial Police Department’s 2025 budget, which includes Personal Services, Equipment and Contractual Services, was $1,191,007, an increase of $479,019 from the current year. After further negotiations, DePew said the Police budget for 2025 now stands at $885,498, saying he is grateful for the department’s consideration in these challenging fiscal times.
The Town Board is expected to vote on the 2025 budget at their November 20th meting at 7 p.m. at the town hall, 1914 Route 44/55, Modena.