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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9-30-2020 Transcript Budget Hearing09302020PublicHearingBudget.mp3 Supervisor Beth McGee [00:00:06] OK. This is the Town of Enfield Public Hearing for the 2021 Preliminary Budget this evening in September. Wednesday, September 30th at 6:00 p.m. with a special Town Board Meeting to follow at 6:30. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:00:24] Via the Zoom portal. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:00:28] The budget. That was present and it's available. Online and in the Clerks office. Ellen, would you please read the public hearing notice? Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:00:49] Sure. And I would also like to submit for the board that no correspondence was received by mail or by email at the time of this meeting. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:00:59] Thank you. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:01:10] Preliminary budget public hearing, nine thirty. Twenty, twenty six p.m. notice of public hearing for proposed twenty twenty one Town of Enfield preliminary budget, please take notice that a public hearing will be held upon September 30th. Twenty twenty at six p.m. Via zoom online meeting platform. Visit and then the Zoome addresses their. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:01:34] Meeting IDA eight twenty five nine five eight four six nine six one in the town of Enfield, New York, for the purpose of receiving public input and comments considering the adoption of the twenty twenty one Town of Enfield preliminary budget as the town of Wante as the twenty twenty one town of Enfield annual fiscal budget. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:01:56] The twenty twenty one preliminary budget is on file and available for review at the Town Clerks office for anyone desiring to review the same. The proposed budget may also be accessed at. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:02:13] H ttp Town of Enfield dot org backslash budget. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:02:18] Please take further notice that the salaries of elected officials in the preliminary budget are set as follows. Town supervisor. Twenty four thousand Town board. Councilperson for at thirty three thousand five hundred each. Town clerk twenty two thousand. Town Highway superintendent sixty one thousand five hundred. Town Justice. Seventeen thousand. At the time and place of such public hearing, the Town board will take statements, testimony and evidence from all persons interested in the subject. Hereof and concerning the same, and the Town board may or will take such other action there upon as is required or permitted by law. All residents of the town and the general public are invited to attend this public hearing. Please take further notice that the aforementioned time and place, all citizens shall be afforded the opportunity to voice their approval or opposition to said budget. Comments may also be dropped off in a secure or Dropbox at the town hall at 168 Enfield main road, Ithaca. New York one four eight five oh mail to the same address or emailed to Town board at Townofenfield.org conference must be received by five forty five p.m. on September 30th, 2020 to be read at the public hearing. Individuals with visual hearing or other impairments or disabilities that require or request assistance should contact Town clerk Ellen Woods at one six or seven two seven three eight two five six or town clerk at Townofenfield.org at least forty eight hours prior to the time of the public hearing. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:04:03] The town of Enfield Web site. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:04:06] Contains information on how to participate in a public hearing by telephone or online. The public hearing is held Via zoom per night. New York State Executive Order two oh two point five five continuing temporary suspension and modifications of laws related to the disaster emergency. Citizens are encouraged to visit townofenfield.org, often for updates and to subscribe to Notification 918 20 -20 by order of the Town board. Ellen Woods Town clerk Town of Enfield, New York. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:04:41] Also submitting that that public hearing notice ran in our paper of record, which is the ethics Journal. I believe eight days prior to the date of the publication. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:04:52] Thank you. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:04:55] OK, so begin the public hearing. We will take public comment. Each person will have three minutes to speak. All comments need to be directed to the whole board. And if you could, please use the raise your hand feature in your participants list. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:05:17] And we. Your name will go to the top of the screen. So I'll be able to see you and know that you want to speak. [00:05:29] And. Let's say. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:05:36] And then at the end of all of the people that have their hand raised, I will ask if I will open up and unu everybody. And if there's anyone who has not been able to make that work or has not made a comment, then you can do so and make yourself known at that time. If you're calling in on a phone, you can use Star nine to toggle the raise your hand on and off. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:06:14] McKenzie, new heart. Mackenzie Newhart [00:06:23] Right. Mackenzie Newhart [00:06:25] So McKensie, new heart, Griffin Road. Oh, I'm pretty much on here tonight to talk about how a degrease greatly appreciate if you all would reconsider what you're doing to our Town Highway Department. Cutting one of their full time employees is insane and not even losing money. You're just moving it to other places because you don't like Buddy. Well, he's not the whole department. He's just a part. Don't punish them. Or maybe it's because they are all men, which you make relevant that you don't really like. But they are key to this Town and show dedication 24/7 on call holidays, nights and weekends, whatever is needed for them. You know, Beth's back in twenty nineteen. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:07:13] Don't direct your comments to individual board members. Direct your comments to the entire board. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:07:18] OK. Thank you. You know back in twenty nineteen you showed very much support for these guys. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:07:24] You I said direct your comments to the Town board. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:07:29] Well thank you. OK. Well, here we go. I am so sick of sitting on these meetings and seeing the extreme unprofessional behavior directed towards everybody. It is so please put your differences aside and reconsider a nd work together, not be separated and do whatever is right, not just out of spite. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:08:03] It's IDA. Thank you. [00:08:10] He it. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:08:18] Hi there. Can you hear me? I can hear you. OK. Pete Myers (TCWC) [00:08:22] My name is Pete Myers. I'm the director of the Tompkins County Workers Center, located in the city of Ithaca., and I reside in the city of Ithica. Worker Center was created the first living wage employer certification program in the country back in 2006. And I'm very happy to say that the town of Enfield has been a living wage employers 2016. I'm here to raise concerns on the fact that certain elected officials within the town of Enfield are not making a living wage. To be clear, I do understand that technically speaking, elected officials are not considered wage and our employees and are thus not covered under wage in our law. However, it has been brought to my attention that the Town Clerk, for instance, makes twenty thousand dollars a year and works 40 or so hours per week. This would average out to nine dollars and sixty two cents an hour. And I understand that that salary might be increased to twenty two thousand a year. There are some concerns that I, as the director of the Tompkins County Workers Center, would have about the Town clerk being paid, what she's being paid. There are many locales where the pay and salary can be quite low. For instance, in the city of Ithaca., city council members presently make ten thousand one hundred forty dollars per year for 20 hours of work. The real problem with this in all, though calls is that invariably people who run and win a seat would have to have other income to be able to afford doing such a thing. Those without that float of cash, of money are really not able to be elected representatives. In our democracy, the town of Clerk for Enfield makes considerably lower than Clerks and all the other small towns and Tompkins County as well. The Enfield Town Clerk makes considerably lower than just about all small towns of a similar size in the state of New York. I just wanted to take today the opportunity to flag these issues for you to think about as you go about the hard issues that you're faced with in the town of Enfield. Thank you, Pete. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:10:19] I would like to make a comment because I flagged this issue for you back in January and I notified you that I would not be signing the statement that indicates that we were a living wage employer because we shouldn't enj oy being able to call ourselves that. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:10:35] When I personally know that I work over 40 hours a week and so and also have a history of former supervisors that have asserted the same thing in the debate with the Town Clerks office is whether or not that position is full time. Ellen, you can stop. You can just stop. So I'm really I'm interested that you're just now coming and commenting on this. I actually spoke to one of your employees yesterday about this very issue. So thanks for coming and talking about it and preaching to this choir, because I have been raising these flags for over a year. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:11:17] Thank you. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:11:20] And I would not sign that statement personally. The board approved it and I won't sign it to send it. Any other board or supervisor can claim that and send that. But I don't think that Enfield should be claiming that we are a living wage employer when we are not. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:11:39] Thank you. Thank you. Gabe Newhart [00:11:49] Gabe Newhart. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:12:02] I'm asking you to unmuted. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:12:08] Game. Can you hear me? Yeah. Gabe Newhart [00:12:14] Gabe knew her three. Griffin Road. I asked the Town board to not pass his budget and work together on a new one that will not jeopardize a highway employee's job. You guys act like it's all just numbers, but in our world, it's going to put someone out of their job. That they thought was stable and worked very har d to get. We are all on time every day. We're all on call 24/7. And very hard workers. We really don't deserve this. Thank you. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:13:00] Thank you gave. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:13:09] So there is no one else with their hand raised for. For the public hearing. I'm going to UNU everyone. And if you would like to speak for the public hearing, please make yourself known or you can use the raise your hand. Feature now. Uriel Carpenter [00:13:36] Hi, I just had to raise my hand, I'm not sure how to use that feature. Uriel Carpenter [00:13:41] Oh, OK. Uriel Carpenter. Yeah. My name's Uriel Carpenter. Uriel Carpenter [00:13:45] I live on VanDorn Road. I've been a resident for 30 years. And I appreciate this opportunity to speak tonight. I looked at the budget after Mentored the first time I've ever looked at the Town budget. In this case, I. I personally, I had one job for the city of Ithaca., another for Cornell. Uriel Carpenter [00:14:11] And I lost both of those jobs in March. And my wife is got her own business, which went under some time in July. And, you know, so the meantime, we've got a new baby in our family. And so our life is just a. Try to figure out how to stay afloat with about 10 percent of the income that we have been accustomed to over the course of the last 10 years or so. I've not had a claim to have any answers or know what it takes to write a budget. I appreciate all the work that's put in by the Town Highway Department, as well as the Town board and the Town supervisor. Uriel Carpenter [00:14:55] And the one thing I really loved about this budget was that it was not much more money than I paid my taxes last year. You know, I personally had to take the. The twelve hundred bucks they gave me back in April from the federal government and set it aside so that I knew I'd be able to pay my Town taxes, and my wife did the same with hers so that she'd be able to pay her school taxes. And everything we can scrape up in the meantime is basically how we pay groceries and have our mortgage on on delay until the end of the year at least. Well, we have to start paying that again. So, you know, I'd love to see. I'd love to see that budget come down even more of her fall possible just because we haven't got the money to pay our taxes and we want to keep our house. So that's just where we're coming from. And I also hope that Enfielders can all come together and come up with equitable solutions that that are fair and keep us all safe and well-fed and in our homes. So thank you. Nancy Spero [00:16:03] Thank you, Uriel. Nancy Spero, did you want to speak? Nancy Spero [00:16:15] Hi, I'm Nancy Spiro's, 68 North. I also couldn't figure out exactly how to raise my hands, so I. Nancy Spero [00:16:28] Just want to say that doing it, but it and the work of Town board members is incredibly difficult and I can't pretend to understand all of budget stuff. So I appreciate all the hard work. Nancy Spero [00:16:50] I think having a flat budget in this time when many people are unemployed or on fixed incomes or lost their jobs is is really important to do. Nancy Spero [00:17:05] If it can possibly be done. So I think that that's very important. And I appreciate all the work to to try to make this a flat budget and not raise people's taxes, because I have a feeling the county taxes are going to be going up and who knows what other taxes probably state. And when we get around to those again. And so I really appreciate trying to keep it flat. Also, I. Nancy Spero [00:17:36] I do really appreciate that you're supporting think talking about supporting the grainge and continuing to support this food pantry, the community council, the youth programs, helping the fire department with their gear, senior citizens, because those, you know, all the people in need are really, really going to need those services. Nancy Spero [00:17:57] And I really appreciate that you're not cutting anything in those. So I just want to say thank you for all those things. I hope that there's a way to not have to lay off anybody in the highway department. You know, I hate to see people losing their jobs. You know, if there's some way to even make the person part time or something like that, that would be wonderful. If there's some compromise in there to not have somebody totally lose their job. Maybe that's a possibility. But I do want to appreciate that so many people are in need that higher taxes would be a very hard thing. Thank you. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:18:35] Thank you, Nancy. Becky Simms. Becky. Rebecca Sims [00:18:50] Hey, can you hear me? Can I? Rebecca Sims [00:18:55] Hey, I'm going to keep my video off because it's really dark. OK? So I'm just a couple things I wanted to say that he said six or eight I referred. Yeah. Really appreciate the position that you guys are in. That's really tough. And I do not envy it. This is not a good time to be a municipal official during budget season. There's not gonna be a lot of good solutions here. So I think that said that what's been put together is a good starting point B, especially because as has been mentioned, the tax rate is remaining low and the tax rate increase, rather, is remaining really low. And that's important. And I echo what Nancy Aye. mentioned about the continuance of support for community services, because that's really necessary. And, you know, it's like we there pay for those community services or we're going to pay for that in other ways. So that's that's really essential. However, I, I, I haven't taken a super close look at this budget, but I do see that there's, you know, a pretty there's a pretty big cut to the highway and a pretty big increase for the general fund. And it seems like maybe there could be a more equitable solution there, especially if we're talking about people pot entially losing jobs. I also am wondering how this affects moving forward with the capital plan that was put together last year. I know there was a plan to update that annually, I think. So obviously there's been a lot of changes between a year ago and now. So wondering if you might be able to comment on that. Rebecca Sims [00:20:55] That's all I have to say. Thanks. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:21:02] Thanks Becky. Roy Barriere [00:21:16] Roy Barriere Roy Barriere [00:21:27] Roy. Hi. Yes, hi. Can you hear me OK? Yes, we can. Roy Barriere [00:21:32] IDA Hagler. OK. First of all, I'm glad that there's very little raised taxes. Roy Barriere [00:21:44] That's that's a tough job, but I'm not too happy to see that we're cutting back on the highway department. There seems to be just like what was mentioned, there's that cut back on the highway department and then there's a big raise in the administrative burden and federal budget. And seems like there. I can understand some of the raises, but and I can understand why some do not have a raise. Roy Barriere [00:22:14] But it's a little off balance as far as I'm concerned, especially when I see over a 50 percent increase in supervisors line item from last year's budget to this year's proposed budget. Roy Barriere [00:22:30] Cutting back on the highway department is not a good idea. Roy Barriere [00:22:33] That's setting us back and a few could work out these numbers a little bit better to keep the highway department where it was or where it is current ly. That's what we need to do. The guys are doing a real good job. Maybe things were slow last year. We can't base next year's budget until a year. It's a strange year. Do our best to keep the Highways Department employed is what I would suggest. Thank you . Supervisor Beth McGee [00:23:08] I would just like to remark that the year that Roy Barria was going to take office, the fall before in that budget season, the Town board adopted a budget that gave him as an incoming supervisor, an eight thousand dolla r increase over the former female supervisor. So I'd just like to put that out there. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:23:31] Diane. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:23:38] Either Diane. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:23:47] Diane, you. Great. Diane Aramini [00:23:50] How are you doing? I'm well. Diane Aramini [00:23:55] Good voice that I am opposed to cutting the highway staff, also essential to our community. The staff only, you know, it hurts. It's going to hurt. A road maintenance and plowing, these guys are full time and they save our Town money by doing repairs and maintenance on vehicles or whatever in house that alone is, gotta be saving us some money. But, yeah, I can see where there's increases to other administrative. The deputy Town Clerk, who hasn't even been in this position a year, maybe seven months. We're gonna give her three thousand dollars. That seems like an exorbitant amount. Also, the Town clerk. Diane Aramini [00:24:40] Four thousand dollars is a lot of money for a town clerk again, hasn't been in the position quite a year. She's new. Not only that, she's not even grateful. Diane Aramini [00:24:52] And these positions are part time. Part time, I don't know where they get that they're full time, why they've never been full time. Why all of a sudden? And that's something the board should study. Is it full time or is it part time? We've always believed it was part time. Also, you've got an increase for the code enforcement. Again, part time and the board stated at the last meeting that position was overpaid. I have nothing against the people in these positions. It's the positions themselves. But again, my biggest focus is I'm opposed to highway part, and that's it. Thank you. Councilperson Virginia Bryant [00:25:36] Can I ask. I'm sorry, Diane, to be rude at Virginia. Brian on the board. I do not know your last name. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:25:49] Thanks, Dan. You're welcome. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:26:04] Bev Rollins?. Beverly Rollins [00:26:08] I just like to say that I've spent the last seven months planning for disaster because I'm a nurse. And I don't feel that this budget is planning for a disaster. I think that you need to keep that in mind. Beverly Rollins [00:26:26] I think anybody that's in the fire department would also agree with me that you can't cut important services. And I'd like to say that there's a miscommunication about if you don't live on a road that the highway plows are takes care of, you don't get the service you do because there's garbage trucks o r school busses. There's fuel delivery, there's propane delivery, there's electricity, there's all of those things. And I would really like it if the people here tonight would that is in charge of this meeting would let other people talk without saying anything and interrupting or having comments after words when they're and then they are muted and can't even respond. Beverly Rollins [00:27:09] This budget is not OK. It's not safe. And it's not good for emergencies. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:27:19] Thank you. Ellen Woods. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:27:29] Hi there. Thank you for recognizing me. I would first like to say to the entire town that I am every day in my office dealing with the consequences of the Town, Clerks office being underfunded for decades. Today, I had someone call me looking for their marriage license. I reached out to the Town historian who volunteers her time. 10 years of licenses are missing and someone died at the state. So we no longer have a contact at the state. So, you know, people who had marriage licenses from approximately 1984 to 1993 cannot get copies of their marriage license. I am going to work with vital records to try and untangle this. But that is an example of what happens when you underfund and the Town Clerks office for decades. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:28:19] Also, I Town Clerk in a town like Enfield doesn't have less work. She wears more hats. So in the Tompkins County legislature, for example, they have a dedicated legislative Clerk Dryden, which is a Town three times the size of Enfield has a full time Clerk a full time deputy Clerk and a part time deputy clerk. All of those women also get money for collecting the taxes. So it's not that there's sort of like an initiation cost to even having a court. I have t o learn how to do all these different tasks. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:28:55] The other thing is it is not a debate. If this position is part time or full time, it is full time and Enfield can choose to commit labor abuse or not. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:29:05] But it's a full time position. It's a full time position in every small size town in New York. And it is a full time position in every other town of Enfield size in Tompkins County. So a lot of people think I should be open to the public full time. I'm willing to talk about that. But that's not normally how it's done, because there's a lot of work. There's so much work that has to be done behind closed doors, including balancing large amounts of cash. So that needs to be done behind closed door s. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:29:35] So I have more hours than Caroline. I have more hours than Danby does. And so I'm doing the best to serve the people that I serve. And I desperately and I mean desperately want to succeed in that role. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:29:48] A lot of people have told me if they're funding it for part time, you walk out the door at 20 hours. I really, really want to do that, but I can't ethically do that. So I'm being sort of like VolunTOLD told to work a full time job for less than minimum wage. I know it's not about money for me. It's absolutely about dignity and recognition. I need to be recognized as a full time employee because that's how much I have to work to succeed. And when I say full time, I mean like full time sa lary, meaning you eat anything over 40 as your own fault. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:30:19] But salary does mean for me, it means full time. The other thing is extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So if Enfield wants to claim that they are the only Town in Tompkins that can have a part time Clerk, they need to prove that they don't need to. I mean, I was told that board members would, you know, do a tedious study that would last a year. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:30:43] Am I supposed to apply for food stamps? And during that time, because that's what I'm supposed to do. Or am I supposed to just continue to work for jobs? Like I'm not. [00:30:51] Thank you. I have a lot more to say. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:30:54] That's OK. But your time is up. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:31:06] I'm opening this up. If there is anyone else who has not had an opportunity to speak and has not made the. Raise your hand feature work. Please let yourself be known for the public hearing. [00:31:21] Beth. Julie McGee [00:31:24] Julie. Yes. I would like this. Go ahead. Yes. Julie McGee [00:31:27] So I just wanted to say that I agree that it is not easy to discuss a budget that will appease everyone. We are still dealing with a pandemic and the re are continuous unknowns. But I just want to say that I hope in the discussions around eliminating a position from the town of Enfield Highway Department, we are seriously considering that this is not just a movement of monetary funds, but the taking awa y of somebodies livelihood and not only that individual, but their family as well. They would also lose their benefits. And during a time that we are still dealing with a health crisis to eliminate someone's income and benefits is bewildering. We also have to remember that these employees are human beings as well. And as you know, they perform manual labor daily. I just want to make sure that we are considering the potential that one or more may under themselves or become ill and then we are down even more positions. So I was just hoping that these things are big discussion. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:32:26] That's all. Thank you, Julie. Mike Carpenter [00:32:34] Beth's, can you hear me? I can hear you, Mike. Go ahead. I would like to speak to a carpenter. Yes, my carpenter. Mike Carpenter [00:32:40] Five nine four Bostik Road Enfield. Because the one thing that strikes me from most of the comments that I hear from people is that they're very personalized. They're very real. They're very significant to the people that are involved with it. But they can't just of necessity, really understand the budget process on a longer scale. It's interesting for me because I was involved with the last eight budgets for the Town and voted on them and had a number of things to say about them. Mostly I just said, let's not spend some money. And we managed to keep it fairly low, except for one year where there wasn't many increases. What I did find was that there were definite patterns that came along in the process of developing the budget. One of the patterns I did notice was that over the course of time that I was on board for that Aye. years, the budget for the highway department took more and more of a percentage of the total Town budget. It started off I don't know that my numbers are exact, but what I remember is that it started off that I was pregnant with somewhere around 60 percent of the total budget. And within four or five years, six years, the highway department budget was up to 80 percent of the total budget. There were reasons for that. And the fact is, any statement that it's made in relation to this, including mine. Mike Carpenter [00:34:04] Our only very, very. Mike Carpenter [00:34:07] Partially true. There's so much going on that it's such a complicated process and there's so many things to consider. There's so many reasons that you have to spend money for this or that, sometimes more. And the highway departments, sometimes one general fund that if you really want to understand the process, you really have to look at it more clearly. I do appreciate the thing that the Beth's wrote at the end of the budget when I looked at it online. I spent two or three hour agreeing budget and I had a lot of questions. And then I read the little two page synop sis that Beth's did at the end of it, which answered probably 90 percent of my questions. Hopefully everybody read that and understood it. Well, I guess I'd just like to say I do support the budget as it is. Mostly, I trust the people that did the budget did their best. My working one of the parts I found that they always did their best. And there was a really careful to try and balance the needs of everyone in the town of Enfield and the needs that the Town had in order to stay at that low number, in order to to also give everybody the things that they needed as much as possible. I do appreciate all the work that you've done. I think the budget is fine. I think it should be voted on as is. And I think it proves. [00:35:19] Thanks. Can make. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:35:27] Is there is there anyone other than Town board members? Everyone is unmuted. I've asked everyone to be unmuted. I will try that one more time if there's anyone else who would like to speak who has not had an opportunity for the public hearing on the budget. Rebecca Sims [00:35:46] I just have a really quick clarifying question about the budget document that was posted on the Web site. Rebecca Sims [00:35:54] Was that the adopted 20 budget or the modified 20 20 budget because it was adopted? But it seems like it was modified because there's no chipps funds? Supervisor Beth McGee [00:36:04] Well, what happened is with the original budget that we adopted, the chips funds amount was left on both the expenditure and the r evenue side just as a place holder so board members could see what that amount was. But we'd moved it. We removed that from the budget in January or February because it really shouldn't be budgeted at all. It was just a wash anyway. It was a zero sum. So we removed that after the first to the year. Rebecca Sims [00:36:35] OK. So it was modest. Is that the modified budget then? Yes. That's the modified amount for chips. It just it shouldn't I should have said zero in the budget. Rebecca Sims [00:36:50] OK. I'm wondering, then, is does that, like, affected the percentages then that are shown the comparing year to year? Supervisor Beth McGee [00:37:01] What do you mean? Rebecca Sims [00:37:05] And because you guys budgeted for those in the past. So when you're right. Well, we were sent for them. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:37:11] We do a budget amendment in April or May after we get the letter from the state stating we're gonna get it. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:37:21] That's generally how we go about doing it. But last year in the printed budget, because when the budget was prepared for the Town board to look at so they could see, so you could all see what that amount looks like in the budget, even though it washed from one side to the next, it didn't impact the levy at all. It was just an election year. Thanks. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:37:49] Patricia. Patricia Speno [00:37:51] Hello, I'm Patricia. I that when the deputy town clerk of until New and I. I like the budget as it is not because of my sa lary or the work that I put into the job. Patrica Speno [00:38:13] I understand that this is a global situation that's going on. The circumstances and the consequences are global. It's very difficult to to, you know, center everything in an Enfield. I see shortages of materials, scarcity and population. Patrica Speno [00:38:33] Coming up, a potential illness and death, you know, around the globe. To go on the way we have. Is is just not it doesn't sound reasonable. Patrica Speno [00:38:51] You noted to increase taxes or to increase expenditures. There are alternatives in management and different departments. Job sharing things at. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:39:07] I'm sorry, go ahead. There was interference. I needed it. Patrica Speno [00:39:13] There are alternatives to a lay off. That's up to the superintendent of the highway, how he uses the budget that's available. Patrica Speno [00:39:24] I agree with the budget as is. Thank you. Thank you, Patricia. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:39:35] All right. I see no one else who wants to speak. Bob Lynch. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:39:43] Yes. Good evening. I want to thank everybody who's made comments so far. They've been very helpful and very constructive. Robert Lynch, Councilperson 175 Gray Road. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:39:54] Twenty five dollars. What can you buy with it? It won't even buy me pizza and beers with a friend. But if you own a one hundred thousand dollar house, you know what it can buy Aye. years of avoiding su bpar maintenance of Enfield's roads. Fifty dollars. My monthly cell phone bill is bigger than that. But if you own a home worth two hundred grand, it can buy you the same peace of mind. Tonight you are Town board may adopt next year's budget that cuts 20 p ercent of our town's highway work staff somebodies job. My math tells me that for less than eighty thousand dollars more, raising the per thousand tax rate only twenty five cents over last year, you could keep that man on the job and maintain our roads as Buddy. Rollin's says they should be maintained and give each of those men a two percent raise to boot. It's so easy in September to forget last February, Enfield has snow, lots of it. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:40:54] Where the bleep is my snow plow? You may shout to your dashboard, you should slide down Aiken or Harvey Hill. This DEC all because Buddy doesn't have the manpower it needs to keep up with the storm, but no one loses her life. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:41:10] But budget cuts hurt people. To other people. One of the five men on Buddy's team will lose his job, his paycheck, his livelihood. We've heard that tonight. Honey, I guess you'll have to take that Second job until I can find work. He may say any remorse. I want you, each o f my colleagues on this board to join me. If Buddy will let us go down to 475 Enfield main that gloomy Sunday morning when Buddy takes one of his dedicated employees aside and says, son, please, turning your keys. Town board cut your job. At that moment, I want each of you to look that same man straight in the eye and explain to him why you've chosen to keep your own job, but not his. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:41:54] I, too, will look him in the eye, but I'll have a different message. Man, I'm sorry I tried, but I was outvoted. Best to you, your wife and kids. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:42:05] This board is race to adopt a 20 one budget faster than Mitch McConnell can confirm. Amy CONI Eric to the Supreme Court. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:42:13] I can only speculate as to why. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:42:18] Some in this border say I pander to politics, that I appease the good old boy system. No, I'm just trying to do what's right by our community. What I think our residents want to save a job, maybe also a life. This is a shortsighted budget, a vindictive budget, a cold hearted budget. Councilperson Robert Lynch [00:42:34] This is not the way to run a town. All for twenty five dollars. Enjoy your pizza. Thank you. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:42:42] Thanks, Ellen. Are you there? How many jobs do you have? [00:42:52] I have idea. I don't. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:42:56] I don't know if I can really answer that question correctly. I have a small contract with Tompkins Co.. Once they figured out how much the of work the Town Clerks job is, I reduced that contract to a third of what it was. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:43:14] And so then I am on the 211 hot line and I am on the 211 hot line for approximately 12 hours a week. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:43:24] And you volunteer for the fire company. Town Clerk Ellen Woods [00:43:28] I'm on call three nights a week for the fire company. But that does not necessarily mean I get called out every night of the week. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:43:36] Thank you. I personally, I am a small business owner and I have two two jobs in addition to that. So, Bob, I haven't heard any sympathy or empathy from you with regard to how many jobs the people in these positions have to work in order to just make just not even the same amount that the Town affords. For one position here with benefits and salary. So I just want to point that out for you. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:44:12] OK. So with that, I will close the public hearing. And open the special meeting. I will call the meeting to order. Are there any changes or additions by board members to. The budget hurt the agenda. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:44:47] All right, so we'll begin with privilege of the floor. Supervisor Beth McGee [00:44:51] We'll use the same process as before anyone who wishes to.