HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-11-07-PublicHearing TOWN OF GROTON -MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETING
PUBLIC HEARING ON 2014 PRELIMINARY BUDGET
PUBLIC HEARING ON 2014 FIRE & AMBULANCE BUDGETS
TH U RSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2013 AT 7:30 PM
THE TOWN HALL, 101 CONGER BOULEVARD
Those present: Glenn E. Morey, Supervisor
Ellard L. Sovocool, Councilman
Donald F. Scheffler, Councilman
Richard B. Gamel, Councilman
Sheldon C. Clark, Councilman
Also present: Frank Satterly, Ed Westlake, Kat Clement, Lester Coit, Charles
Rankin, Richard C. Case, Jr., April Scheffler.
Supervisor Morey moved to open the Public Hearing on the 2014 Preliminary Budget,
seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 7:30 pm.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
Public Comments:
Ed Westlake - I was very surprised when I read it in the paper that there was as much as
a 50% raise given all at one time. I know why raises are given and many times they are
deserved. Usually it's because of inflation, and we haven't had 50% inflation over a
four-year period, at least I haven't gotten it in my Social Security. The other reason is
productivity and I'd like to know if we've increased productivity here by 50%.
Frank Satterly - I'm not here to tear your budget apart. I think you'd be disappointed if
somebody didn't show up. But I agree with that. I looked at that article in the paper
and I thought, gee, I know your employees are going anywhere from 3% and then you
say a 50% for you elected officials. Over a four-year period, that's 12 1/2/O a year and
that's a lot. I think you should think about it seriously because we may be spending a
lot of money on lawsuits that I think the State DEC will take care of eventually, but I am
just concerned about that amount of money. I know how hard it is to prepare a
budget and I'm not tearing it down. I've worked on a lot of budgets and that's just
how I feel.
Town Clerk Scheffler informed the Board that there were no written comments.
Supervisor Morey - First of all I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all the Board and
department heads for being fiscally responsible with this budget. This has been a tight
budget and we had to be able to anticipate needs for fiscal year 2014. They made
difficult decisions and the end result is presented to you tonight. This year's budget is
lowered by 3-cents on the tax rate compared to 2013. That is 1% decrease over the
2013 rate. One of the most difficult decisions this year was raises and I'm happy to
Town Board Minutes Page 2 November 7,2013
report that everyone was given a raise. Some of the increased costs the Board had to
contend with were retirement and health insurance that went up 8%. So, looking at the
budget, we have A, B, DA and DB. The A is General Fund that includes the whole Town;
B is Part Town which includes everything but the Village; DA is Highway Fund; and DB is
Highway Fund Part Town. Our amount raised by taxes is going to be $1,390,,030.00. Our
assessment went from $423,000,000.00 to $430,000,000.00. The General Fund and
Highway Town Wide will be taxed at $3.893 and the Part Town at $2.25 with a total
taxable rate of $6.14. That's down from $6.18 for last year. Groton Fire has gone up to
$0.78 per thousand and McLean Fire has gone up to $1 .81 per thousand. Any
comment from the Board?
Councilman Gamel moved to close the Public Hearing on the 2014 Preliminary Budget,
seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 7:35 pm.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
Supervisor Morey moved to open the Public Hearing on the 2014 Fire and Ambulance
Budget, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 7:35 pm.
Ayes - Sovocool, Scheffler, Gamel, Clark, Morey
Lester Colt, Fire Chief - Do you have any questions on the increases? Basically, I thank
you for your assistance. We have two new hires as far as EMTs. We just took on two
paramedics. We are working on that problem,just so the Board knows.
Councilman Gamel - At this point, how far out is the separation from the Dryden
situation? With two new hires, will that be a fulltime service at that point, or are we still
going to have to have Dryden (Ambulance) on at some point, like a stand-by kind of
thing?
Chief Colt - We will probably end up having to use them once in awhile. Paramedics
are hard to find now-days. All services are having that problem. They tend to flock
wherever the money is.
Frank Satterly- I assume the Fire Department budget went up. You haven't raised taxes
that much, so where is the money coming from? Are you using some of the reserves?
Supervisor Morey - Yes, we are. (Note: $5,,000.00 was taken from the reserve fund and
added to the Ambulance Fund.)
Supervisor Morey moved to close the Public Hearing on the 2014 Fire & Ambulance
Budgets, seconded by Councilman Sovocool, at 7:38 pm.
There being no further business, Councilman Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by
Councilman Sovocool, at 7:38 pm. Unanimous.
April L. Scheffler, RMC
Town Clerk