November 3, 2008
Dear Milan Resident,
This letter is to alert Milan residents to an upcoming public hearing scheduled for Thursday, November 6 at 7:30 on a proposed town tax increase of 40%.
In June, the Milan Republicans on the Town Board wrote to residents to forecast a dire financial year, blaming the prior board. Fellow board member Diane May and I wrote to you to dampen the level of concern, saying that “the sky is not falling. Milan can manage its affairs successfully.” In fact, the 2008 town budget, approved in 2007, was soundly constructed. I recently completed with the Town Board an expense and revenue projection for year end 2008; the town can expect a surplus approaching $60,000. That is the good news, because it will help us to lower what is, to me, an unacceptable tax increase being proposed for 2009.
No matter how the town board plans next year’s budget, there will be a substantial increase in the tax rate/$1000 of property assessment. As you know, the current economic climate is very bad. Driving the tax increase are expected reductions (-4.5%) in traditional revenue sources (particularly mortgage and sales taxes) and increasing costs (+32%) associated with our highways. The Preliminary Budget adopted on Monday, October 27, proposes to raise taxes by 40.6% and the tax rate by 36.4% (exclusive of fire protection).
But there are options that can reduce the proposed highway expenditures, which would substantially reduce the tax rate increase. I have proposed bonding road improvement planned for Odak Farm Road (which will spread some costs over the next five years), and reducing road maintenance significantly during this extraordinary year. While I recognize the importance of keeping up with scheduled maintenance, I view this as a strikingly unusual situation that requires other than business as usual actions. These changes, plus a modest reduction in hours for employees in zoning and planning, (where activity is down) can reduce the tax rate hike this next year to about 15%, still much higher than anyone would like to see, but somewhat less unreasonable.
I also proposed holding all pay for employees and elected officials to current levels. However, the Board, when it adopted the Preliminary Budget on Monday, October 27, set the salaries for next year at a 3% increase for all except the Town Board. The Board has, at my suggestion, agreed to a small reduction in our pay.
Because of the opportunity to further reduce the budget, I abstained from approval of the preliminary budget. This will give my fellow board members a chance to bring the budget down when we set the final budget for 2009 after the public hearing. If they do not make significant reductions along the lines above, I will vote against the final budget.
Supervisor Barrett has failed to keep residents informed of the town’s financial status. The latest financial data on the town web site is for March 2008. When the board majority wrote to you in June, they indicated that they would “have an informational meeting later this summer to explain the financial situation in more detail.” Not only did they fail to do so, they have not taken steps to inform the public, other than by the legally required newspaper notice, of the upcoming public hearing on the budget.
The proposed budget is extraordinary … unacceptable in this financial climate … and the public should be informed to permit their comment.
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Ross Williams, Town Board Member, rwilliams.town@gmail.com