New Lebanon Decreases Tax Levy!

by Thaddeus Flint
At its monthly meeting Tuesday the Town Board of New Lebanon adopted a 2013 budget of $2,053,600 which is a .36% reduction from the 2012 budget. The budget passed with all in favor. Councilman Bruce Baldwin was absent.
[private]The night started off with a public hearing on the budget. Few from the public attended, and little was said. Resident Cynthia Creech made the one, lone observation. “We were noticing that some of the salaries have picked up,” she said.
“Whose?” asked the Town Clerk, Colleen Teal.
“Yours,” said Creech.
An entry on one page of the proposed budget showed Teal receiving a raise of $23,620. It turned out that the salary of the Deputy Town Clerk had accidently been combined with Teal’s salary. This was quickly corrected to where Teal receives no raise at all.
The mostly symbolic salaries of the Town Supervisor and the Town Council members will become even more symbolic. Supervisor Mike Benson will now take home $5,000 instead of $8,000 and each Councilmember will go to $2,000 instead of $2,440. The two Town Justices will also see cuts of $360 to their pay; they will receive $10,000 each in 2013. The Historian of Historic New Lebanon will also see his earnings go back in time. He will receive $750 instead $1,200, which was what he was making in 2011.
The General Fund of the Town will be budgeted at $895,794, a decrease of $32,259 from 2012. The library’s funds are unchanged at $135,000. The ambulance budget will increase $5,140, to $176,500. The Town Highway Department budget will fall, by $5,361 to $625,446. The budget of the Lebanon Valley Protection Association will remain at $220,860.
The amount of the budget to be raised through property taxes will be $1,294,580, a decrease of around $3,378 from 2012. The budget will appropriate $60,000 from the unexpended fund balance, although Benson said it would be replaced. “I believe it will go up, net,” he said.
Bulletproofing The Court
With a budget cut to the bare minimum, it was good news that a State Justice Court Assistance Program Grant that the Town Court applied for will at least be partially awarded. Tistrya Hamilton, the Court Clerk, reported that an as yet unknown amount will be largely used in the furnishing and securing of the new court room under construction in the Town Hall addition. The money will go towards an alarm system, a video monitoring system of a doorway, a cashier’s window and bullet resistant glass panels. Funds for 100 chairs will also be provided, although the new court room can legally hold only 50 people. “Grant or no grant, we want to spend it wisely,” said Benson.
Unfortunately, the cost of a bullet proof vest for the Town Constable, Wes Powell, would not be covered. “We did get scolded,” said Hamilton, for allowing Powell to protect the court unprotected. Hamilton asked that the Town approve an expenditure of $601 toward providing Powell with a protective vest. Powell made $4,166 in 2012 at a job that presumably could involve bullets flying at him, but this was cut to $4,000 in the 2013 budget. All were in favor of spending the $601 to get Powell a vest.
That a small town court would need bullet resistant glass, security systems, special doors and armed constables in bullet proof vests caused Councilman Doug Clark to question the future existence of the court in New Lebanon. “Down the road we are going to need two armed constables,” he pointed out. The labor alone will make the court unaffordable. “At some point we are not going to have a local court system,” said Clark. “The County is going to have to take it over.”
Town Hall Close To Completion
The new Town Hall and the court room are close to completion. “Things are moving along quite nicely. We will be done by the end of the month,” said Clark. In the meantime Hamilton is working on getting the Court moved from the American Legion Building to the new location by the end of the year. A moving expense of not more than $1,280 was granted to the Court by the Town Board with all in favor. This includes an extra $150 to move a fire proof, bulletproof, gun safe, which contains no guns. The safe failed to sell recently when no reasonable offers were made for it, and the Town has decided to keep it in case some other use can be found. “We can put Wes in it,” laughed Benson.
To keep the tax dollars coming in, the Town’s Assessor, Kim Cammer, announced that she and her assistant, will be visiting all properties in the Town to prepare an updated reassessment. Unfortunately they will be unable to make appointments ahead of time. “The people just need to know we are coming,” said Cammer. The reassessment project should be completed and inventories mailed to property owners by June 2013.
Ethics Board vs. Ethics Board
At last month’s Board meeting, a vote was taken to decide the fate of the Town’s Ethics Board. The Ethics Board is a quarrelsome Board that can’t even agree to disagree. Benson and Clark wanted to see its duties handed over to the County. That didn’t happen, and so this month the Ethics Board was back once again arguing with itself.
According to Ethics Board Chairman Kathy Murnane a new complaint has come in.
“There is no Ethics Board Chairman,” pointed out Ethics Board Member Mike Smith.
Whatever her title is, Murnane has tendered her resignation but said she would stay until the end of the year if the Town Board asked her to. As for the complaint, she said three of the five Ethics Board members had found no basis for it.
“What complaint?” asked Smith. Smith said he had not been notified of the complaint or any Ethics Board meeting to even discuss a complaint.
“We have a problem with the Ethics Board,” said Murnane, “as you all know.”
The Town’s Attorney, Andy Howard, advised trying to meet at a mutually agreeable time and place to discuss the complaint.
“There is no mutual, believe me,” responded Murnane.  Benson asked that Murnane continue her Ethics duties until the end of the year. Murnane agreed to the extension.
New Planning Board Members
The Planning Board, in the meantime, will add a new member. At the recommendation of Councilman K.B. Chittenden, Charles Geraldi was voted in with only Clark voting against the appointment. “I would have liked a larger pool to choose from,” said Clark.
Flood Planning
Apparently the Town could use some flood planning, according to two residents from School House Road. Charlene Gennari and Brenda Elman asked if there was anything the Town could do to remedy constant flooding of theirs and other properties in the West Lebanon area. “There really is no way to make it disappear,” said Clark. “That area is low and subject to flooding.” The Town’s Highway Supervisor, Jeff Weinstock, has offered to try and work on a solution if the owner of the property where the water accumulates would allow it, but that so far this has not happened.
“Is there a flood study?” Elman asked.
“New Lebanon has a flood study,” answered Clark. “It was basically a bunch of guys sitting around with a pizza, drawing some lines on a map. It’s very rudimentary.” Clark recommended that Gennari and Elman work with the DEC and the Army Corps of Engineers, who have previously been consulted in regard to flooding of that area.
Finally, Lori Hogan of Stephentown, spoke of the need for zoning, specifically in consideration of the motocross track that Lebanon Valley Speedway owner Howard Commander has been attempting to build since 2010. Wetlands and archeological sites could be affected, and noise studies have been lax. “We need to retain the harmony and rural character of the area,” she said.[/private]