HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget Committee Minutes 3-20-2023
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BUDGET COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes - March 20, 2023
Committee present: Eric Levine - Chairman, Pam Bleiwas, Rod Howe
Staff present: Donna Shaw, Marty Mosely, CJ Randall
Meeting was called to order at 12:05 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS:
Review and approve meeting minutes from February 13, 2023.
Moved: Pam Bleiwas Second: Rod Howe Motion: Passed
Continue discussion regarding Projected Fund Balance for 2022 and potential reserve accounts.
The Committee reviewed the draft Fund Balance report for 2022. The General Fund has
$1,930,000 in excess fund balance that, according to our Fund Balance Policy, needs to be spent
down or set aside in a reserve fund. The Committee discussed setting up a Reserve for Bonded
Indebtedness for $1,064,000. This amount would cover the principal payments on the 2020 Bond
for the Public Works Expansion Project. The reserve fund would earn interest that would be used
to help cover the interest payments on the debt. Setting up this reserve for these payments
would eliminate the need to tax for these bond payments in future years. The 2023 debt payment
is $104,316. There would be $866,000 remaining in excess fund balance to fund potential projects
in the 2024 CIP.
Generally, fund balance has grown in all funds since 2021 when the Fund Balance Policy was
adopted. This is largely due to increased sales tax and interest income.
There is the potential to set up Capital Reserve Funds in the Highway Funds and we have
requested guidance from Susan Brock before proceeding.
Update on 2022 Sales Tax Collections.
The committee reviewed and discussed the Sales Tax Collections Report for December 31, 2022. In
2022 we received $4,483,397.51, exceeding the $3,250,000 budget by $1,233,397.51. This
represents 138% of the budget for sales tax. In 2023, we increased the sales tax budget to
$3,750,000.
This also represents a 12.6% increase over 2021 collections.
Update on current investments and proposal from Community Bank.
- Current Investments: The Committee reviewed the Investment Report for February 28, 2023.
The Town currently has $13.9 million in NYCLASS and three certificates of deposit totaling $18.2
million at Tompkins Community Bank. The CD’s are all for 12 months and laddered with maturity
dates on July 4th, December 28th and February 14th. This allows us to have access throughout
the year, if needed.
Interest rates on the CD’s are 3.85%, 4.5% and 4.6%. NYCLASS is currently 4.43%.
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- Community Bank: Community Bank reached out to us regarding opening an account with them.
Their proposal was a Money Market Account earning 4.5% with a minimum balance of $100,000
and/or a 3 month CD with a rate of 4.5%. The Committee discussed the proposal but decided not to
establish a relationship with them at this time. We would reconsider if their rates were higher than
we are currently receiving from NYCLASS and Tompkins Community.
Discuss dissolution of Light Districts.
The Committee reviewed and discussed the fund balance report for the Light Districts with projected
expenditures and revenues for 2023. All funds are expected to zero out by the end of the year. Any
residual funds left would move to the General Fund to offset future costs. The Light Districts represent
a very small percentage of the overall budget, so it makes sense to dissolve them and eliminate the
administrative budget of tracking them.
The process for dissolving the Light District will include individual dissolution plans and public hearings.
We are in the process of developing a policy for when we would install new streetlights.
Discuss potential contribution to TCAT.
The committee discussed the potential contribution to TCAT. Members decided that if there was a
funding request for a need specifically for Town residents, then they would consider a contribution.
Discuss potential increase in the income limit for Disabled and Senior Citizen Property Tax
Exemptions.
The Town increased the income limits to $37,400 in 2022. Shortly after that the State increased the
maximum income to $50,000. The County and some surrounding Town’s raised their limit to
$43,400 last year. According to Jay Franklin’s analysis, the Town would have an additional 57 people
eligible for the exemption if we increased to $43,400. This would increase our tax by $2.01 for the
average assessed home in Cayuga Heights and $1.75 tax increase too the average assessment in the
Town Outside the Village.
The Committee was supportive of increasing the income limits.
Other Items.
There were no other items to discuss.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:47 p.m.
Next Meeting: Monday, April 10th at 12:00 p.m., Town Hall - Aurora Room or Zoom