2018 Town Budget Is Approved
New Lebanon’s Town Board adopted a 2018 budget at the November 14 monthly meeting, with a tiny decrease in the amount needed to be raised by taxes. The tax amount of $1,042,854 is four dollars less than that of the 2017 budget.
While the tax amount will pretty much stay the same, total spending will rise from $1,758,038 in 2017 to $1,822,904 in 2018. The majority of the $64,866 in expenses not covered by taxes will be paid out of the Unexpended Balance, of which its portion will increase to $120,500 from the $75,000 amount used in both 2017 and 2016 financial years. While the budget of the Highway Department will increase by $72,971, the budgets for the Town’s ambulance and fire department will decrease by $23,931 and $40,800 respectively.
Town Supervisor Colleen Teal’s pay will increase from $17,772 to $22,772. It was noted at the Public Hearing on the budget, November 9, that the Supervisor’s job has gone from more or less part-time to one that is mostly full-time. (To put those numbers in context, the Supervisor, who has years of experience from being Town Clerk, could work full time at Walmart as an entry-level check-out attendant and get an even better raise). Town Board members, who are also finding themselves doing more as the public seems to increasingly refrain from volunteering, will see their pay increase from $2,000 to $4,000 each.
The 2018 Budget was voted on and adopted, with all in favor except Councilman Dan Evans, who voted against the document without further comment.
Much of the rest of the meeting was an insight into how government can complicate things which the average person probably thinks are relatively simple matters. Take, for instance, one of those big thermometer signs you see all over the place, those that show how much money a PTA or a rescue squad has raised so far on its way toward a financial goal. That should be a relatively simple thing to erect if it’s for the good of the Town, shouldn’t it? It probably would have been for some of the volunteers of a local Habitat for Humanity project if they had just gone and put up their big thermometer without making sure it was OK first. However, they decided to be good citizens and let the Town Board know that they would like to install the big thermometer on private land at the corner where Routes 22 and 20 split off, and that complicated everything.
The problem is New Lebanon doesn’t currently have any regulations that allow that sort of thing. So, because it wasn’t allowed, it’s not allowed. The Board recognizes this. There are problems with zoning and it’s being worked on. But this being government, it’s a long and tedious procedure. It can also be expensive, which is one reason why the Town spent almost $80,000 on legal expenses last year and is budgeting $55,000 for next year. In the meantime, the Board recognizes the good that Habitat for Humanity is doing in their Town. The organization is refurbing a house to give to a local family, while at the same time teaching women the skills needed to go out and do some of these projects themselves. They can do all that but they can’t put up a big thermometer.
The Board at first decided to vote to ignore the big thermometer. It would be an illegal big thermometer, but nobody was going to do anything about it. However, Councilman Chuck Geraldi pointed out that that is not really how government is supposed to work. “I don’t think this Board has that right. If someone takes us to court, we have lost,” said Geraldi. “We are going to say: ‘sorry we are just not enforcing these rules because we like it [the big thermometer]?’”
The Town’s attorney, Dan Tuczinski, agreed with Geraldi. Not enforcing some rules could open up precedent for other big signs. What if someone wanted to put up a big barometer? A huge hygrometer? The town could be littered with oversized meteorological instruments with no way to enforce them. “This is a really wonderful Board,” Tuczinski said to the Habitat for Humanity volunteers. “They want to help you, they want to accommodate you.” But voting to look the other way at a public meeting was not the correct way of doing things. “The Board can’t give you permission,” said Tuczinski.
It looked like the big thermometer was doomed, but then the Fire Department came to the rescue and saved it. The LVPA still has sign rights to the location of the American Legion hall on Route 20. Habitat for Humanity could place their big thermometer there until May.
Looking forward, Supervisor Teal asked that the Board start giving some thought to maybe bringing in a zoning consultant. An outside firm experienced in just such matters could work to overhaul the Town’s zoning and “get us on the right path where we want to be,” said Teal. The problem with that path is that it’s an expensive path. The Town of Brunswick hired a zoning consultant and paid $100,000. One might wonder if that was before or after Brunswick turned Hoosick Street into a parking lot, and seeded it’s scenic pastures in plastic McMansions. The Supervisor thought that New Lebanon, being smaller, might get away with paying around $50,000. Even at that price, the idea provoked some interest on the Board. “We have too much rigmarole,” agreed Councilman Kevin Smith. And the government rigmarole was not yet finished. Town Clerk Tistrya Houghtling asked that the Board consider giving two room dividers to the Mountain Road School. The court uses a few of these, but most are down in the basement gathering dust. Everyone was fine with giving them to the school, except the attorney, who pointed out that government can’t just give stuff away. It has to be declared as surplus first, put out to bid, advertised, and then the bids voted on at a future Board meeting. Can’t we just put them out by the dumpster? Asked Houghtling. Not really. So the dividers are going out to bid. Fancy decorating your house like a cubicle at the IRS? Now’s your chance.
The year-end meeting will be December 28 at 7 pm. The Town’s organizational meeting will be January 2 at 6 pm. Anyone who is awake at 9 am on January 1is welcome to come down to the Town Hall to watch the local government being sworn in.