Village of FleischmannsPublic Hearing/Budget

2015-16April 27, 2015

The Village of Fleischmanns Board of Trustees held a Public Hearing on the 2015-16 budget at the Skene Memorial Library on Monday, April 27, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. Present were: Mayor Donald E. Kearney, Deputy Mayor Harriet L. Grossman, Ben Fenton and Lewis Grocholl. Village Trustee David Yates was absent.

Mayor Kearney opened the Budget Hearing asking if there were any questions on the tentative budget; the one prepared by former Mayor Todd Pascarella is the one that should be commented on. Right after the Public Hearing it can be changed. Because of the way the timing has worked out, Mayor Kearney explained that his submission was a proposal of changes to the tentative budget. Mayor Kearney proceeded to go over the budget line by line with the Village Board. On line 6, the property taxes projected amounted to $295,615 which reflects about a 1 million dollar raise in assessed valuation. There is a proposed 1.61% raise in taxes which comes to $.12 cents; which means $24.00 a year on a $200,000.00 house & it doesn’t raise much. It raises about $4600.00 @ $.12 cents per thousand. Line 8 Property Taxes Delinquent was budgeted for years ago, however, the State Comptroller’s Office has advised that there should be no allocation for delinquent taxes in the fiscal budget leaving a 00.00 allocation for line 8. Line 10 Tax Penalties Mayor Kearney advised that in the 2015 budget the amount allocated was $15,900.00. This year to date, we have only taken in $1800.00. So $10,000.00 appeared to be a reasonable amount proposed for 2016. Line 12, the Franchise/Cable, an agreement was made with MTC not to charge for the cable franchise. Line 16 Clerk Fees $50.00 has been allocated each year & nothing has been taken in, so $0.00 has been allocated for line 14. $25.00 has been allocated for Vital Statistics Fees since the Village has taken in $10.00 to date. At line 18 Mayor Kearney commented that he would like to see the pool open this year. Hopefully this year we will get enough donations to somehow open it; $00.00 has been allocated for pool receipts. Line 20 Planning Building fees has been allocated at $00.00; the Village took in $100.00 which is unusual. As to line 22 Fire Protection, Mayor Kearney advised you may notice that $99,507.00 was budgeted & the Village just received $113,000.00. The Fire Department is on a January to December budget & the Village is on a July to May budget. The $99,507.00 was from the budget that was done one year ago & then in January the Fire Dept. presents their new tax rate. Line 24 Licenses/Permits Garbage fees of $200.00 was received from Bloomville & Waste Management was billed $100.00 for collecting refuse in the Village. La Cabana also pays a porch permit fee each year in the amount of $400.00. The proposed change to line 24 was raised from $200.00 to $400.00. Line 26 Interest/Insurance Recovery $25.00 was proposed as it is never a definite amount. Line 28 Middletown Justice Court is allocated at $100.00. Mayor Kearney advised he was under the impression that the Village was supposed to get some fines back on things that happen in the Village, but so far we haven’t received anything. Hopefully the Village will get half the fines in connection with the VWP Inc. clean up. Line 30 State Aid Per Capita is proposed at $2,900.00 & Line 32 Mortgage Tax is proposed at $900.00. Line 32 Mortgage tax is proposed at $900.00. Line 34 Sewer Fund, Clerical Reimbursement is proposed at $10,000.00 (Another $1,000.00 is also allocated in the Water Fund Revenue for Clerical Services). Line 35 Donations-None were received this year & it’s proposed at $00.00. Line 36 Chips Aid-Mayor Kearney advised the Village of Fleischmanns has accumulated up to $160,000.00 which will help get some road work done. Question arose as to the payment made to Tweedie Construction Services, Inc. for $53,450.04 which will be funded through CHIPS. Further discussion was held as to possibly reducing the $160,000.00 proposed by deducting the $53,450.04 or leaving it allocated at the $160,000.00. Village Trustee Ben Fenton said the allocation for CHIPS should be $107,000.00 since $53,000.00 of the CHIPS money had already been spent. Mayor Kearney advised that as long as the Village paid the Tweedie invoice, CHIPS will reimburse the Village in June of 2015. Mayor Kearney also commented that there is an Extreme Winter Recovery Program for which Fleischmanns should get a few thousand dollars & the normal appropriation they send without needing to do lots of paperwork & having a project to back it up. On line 37

Grants-Website/Museum Roof, Peggy Ellsworth advised there were funds still sitting at O’Connor somewhere under $5,000.00. She will check tomorrow and get back to Mayor Kearney as to the correct amount. Line 38 Rental of Property is for renting of the Pump Station currently at $425.00 monthly; $500.00 has been proposed.Mayor Kearney advised he added Line 40 State Aid, Grants, Reim. in the proposed budget which is for $37,688.00 which was received in February. These funds were Smart Growth funds which were deposited into the General Fund. The Village should be receiving an additional $24,000.00 from Smart Growth.

Under General Fund Expenses Mayor Kearney announced that there would not be any raises for anyone this year. On Line 52 for Bookkeeper $00.00 was proposed by Mayor Kearney in order to save money & combine it with the Treasurer. He pointed out that on Line 76 Contingent Account $5220.00 is proposed which can be reallocated at any point by resolution; possibly to the Bookkeeper line. Line 55 Treasurer PS is proposed as the same $2,994.00 with Line 56 Treasurer CE at $200.00. Line 58 Clerk PS is proposed at $30,407.00 & Line 59 Clerk CE the same at $6,300.00. Line 61 Attorney fees proposed at $12,000.00. Mayor Kearney suggested Line 65 Public Information CE be changed to $200.00 by changing the Contingent Account on Line 76 to $5,020.00. Line 67 Buildings CE proposed at $15,000.00. Line 68 Buildings Equipment was proposed at $1,000.00 in case some major heater or boiler work was needed. Line 70 Insurance is proposed at $36,000.00 since it always goes up. Line 74 Grant Writing/Consulting has been left at $10,000.00. Line 78 Public Safety PS has been left at $00.00. Line 81 Code Enforcement; Mayor Kearney said it has been suggested that the Village take a hard look at the proposed $20,000.00 which has been the contract fee with Middletown. As to Line 83 Fire Protection, the Fire Department handles the budgeting according to the assessments and the tax rate; $66,250.00 is allocated. Line 84 Control of Dogs was proposed at $300.00 for ‘just in case.’ Mayor Kearney addressed the issue of the Town of Middletown collecting the license fees, etc. in the Village, however, they do not provide us with use of their Dog Control Officer. Line 85 Public Health; $300.00 was proposed, however, the amount could be put back to $229.00 as it formerly was. Line 86 Registrar of Vital Statistics was proposed at $138.00 because we had always paid the Registrar of Vital Statistics, Harriet L. Grossman, and the Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics, Glenna Herz. The later being paid $25.00 which was never budgeted. Harriet & Glenna have donated their salary this year, but the proposed $138.00 will remain allocated for that line. Line 88 Street Maintenance PS $28,000.00 has been proposed for Leland Johnson, III based on a salary of $12.90 an hour with the remainder being used towards overtime and/or hiring part-time help. The prior amount of $40,580.00 included a prior employee, Michael Myers. Mayor Kearney advised that he also allocated $4,000.00 on Line 92 Snow Removal PS. So, the $28,000.00 plus the $4,000.00 would be $32,000.00 towards overtime and/or part time help. Lew Grocholl spoke with John Biruk of Middletown who has advised that if the Village pays for the material, when it comes to sealing the roads or oil and stone, Middletown will do it for the price of material only.On Line 89 Street Maintenance Equipment, $1,000.00 had been budgeted, but nothing was spent. Mayor Kearney proposed $3500.00 in case we have to buy a salt spreader or some type of equipment. He would like to see our small John Deere Tractor maintained and brought up to date. Mayor Kearney thought we had a snow blower attachment for it, but he did not know if it was under water or if it still works. Mayor Kearney stated he did not see any reason why the small tractor could not go around and do all the sidewalks. Margaretville puts an add in the newspaper advising that all home owners & business owners are responsible for cleaning the sidewalks in front of their home or business and then they go around with their small tractor and do every sidewalk in the Village. On Line 90 Street Maintenance CE, Mayor Kearney proposed the same amount as in previous years. $106,145.13 was spent; it appears a lot of flood recovery was allocated under this line, which Mayor Kearney thought should have been put somewhere else. The Smart Growth money went on that line also. Line 92 Snow Removal. Mayor Kearney would like to see some money budgeted for snow removal because it’s going to be spent. In past experience if the Governor calls an emergency because we have an extreme snow storm and they come up with a program to reimburse small municipalities for snow removal expense, if you have a budget line and exceeded it, then you have a better chance of getting the money back if that happens. If not, you have to pay for it from somewhere else. On Line 93 Snow Removal CE, Mayor Kearney proposed $3400.00 in case a plow breaks or whatever. On Line 95 Street Lighting we have

$13,000.00 budgeted and we are at $10,856.31. The electric bills have been running at $1200.00 and may go up; $14,000.00 has been proposed. Line 96 Sidewalks $2500.00 has been proposed. Mayor Kearney stated that the Village should come up with a policy as to repair of sidewalks. Mayor Kearney stated that the Village should come up with a policy as to repair of sidewalks. Line 96 $2500 is proposed. If you have an emergency or have to dig up sidewalk to fix a water line or something that’s in front of a Village owned property, we should have something in there to repair it. Line 98 Publicity. Mayor Kearney has proposed $00.00. On Line 100 & 101 Recreation Pool Employees-and $00.00 for equipment is proposed. Mayor Kearney is hoping donations come in so the pool can open. To get it in the budget right now, we need donations to do it. Line 102 Rec. CE $2,000.00 was proposed & $8,000.00 was budgeted. $1,471.70 was spent. We should have a playground operating by the summer and there may be some low maintenance expenses or something. Line 103 Mayor Kearney proposed $1600.00 because we have the bus coming to take the children to Minekill. Some of the money also goes to Margaretville School Ski Program. Peggy Ellsworth is going to check and see if the Village of Fleischmanns can take part in the Youth Program on the County level. Line 105 Museum is proposed at $1,000.00. The cost for pest control for the Museum should be charged to Building Contractual expense on line 67. Line 106 is proposed at $250.00 which goes to the American Legion for running the parade and putting out the wreath for Memorial Day. Line 108 for the County Planning Board service is proposed at $3500.00 a year. Mayor Kearney stated this was an invaluable service to the Village. Line 109 Planning Board CE-Mayor Kearney advised $18.69 has been paid year to date and $00.00 has been proposed. Line 110 Zoning Board was proposed at $00.00. After some discussion as to advertising, etc. Mayor Kearney tentatively changed line 109 & 110 back to $200.00 each. Line 111 NYS Retirement. Mayor Kearney said we budgeted $18,316.00 and paid $21,332.00. Another $3500.00 has been allocated in the Water Department budget. The NYS Retirement has advised that the deduction for Michael Myers will not take effect until 2017. Line 112 Social Security some was taken off the Water Dept. line and made it $8650.00 on the General Fund Expense line. Line 113 Workman’s Compensation is proposed at $6,056.00. Line 114 Unemployment doesn’t seem to run high. $400.00 was proposed. Michael Myers should be finished collecting unemployment by now. Line 115-Disability Insurance is proposed at $200.00. Line 116 Hospital and Medical is proposed at $23,000.00 with $1,000.00 in the Water Department. Line 119 Transfer (Unpaid Water) which is for unpaid water re-levied on the Village tax bills and is proposed at $00.00. Line 120 Capital Reserve Fire Department is proposed at $66,250.00. Line 122 Repair Reserve Fund was $1,000.00 & is now proposed at $00.00. Line 123 Ban Principal was $88,000.00 & has been paid off & is now proposed at $00.00. As to Line 91 CHIPS Aid Mayor Kearney advised that the $53,000.00 to Tweedie should be deducted from the proposed $160,000.00. Since the $53,000.00 has already been paid and change the proposed amount to $107,000.00. Line 90 Street maintenance CE is proposed at $20,000.00. When the check for the $53,000.00 is cashed by Tweedie, our General Fund will be down $53,000.00 & we were just trying to figure out today what we need for salaries.

Water Fund RevenueMayor Kearney advised that the metered water sales have gone down every year. There were two properties lost in the flood & some water accounts are not on all year long, but perhaps for only 2 months or so. The proposed amount for the Metered Water Sales on Line 131 is $109,000.00 with penalties on line 132 at $10,000.00. Line 134 is proposed at $50.00 and Line 135 proposed at $00.00. Line 136 Sewer Fund-Clerical Reim. Is proposed at $1,000.00.

Water fund ExpensesThe Clerk & Bookkeeper have been left the same in the Water fund. Line 148 Source of Supply Pumping $7,000.00 was budgeted last year and the Village spent $4631.23 up to April 25, 2015 so Mayor Kearney cut it down to $6,000.00. Line 149 & 150 have both been left the same. Line 151 Purification $6,000.00 was allocated last year and we spent $1,920.27 and the proposed is $3,000.00. Line 152 & 153 Transmission & Distribution nothing has been spent from that line, so it has been left at $00.00. Line 154 Maintenance PS is the cost for employees when we had two employees working the Water Dept. & it has now been proposed at $00.00. Replacing that is Line 156 Delaware

Operations CE proposed at $12,000.00 & Line 155 Maintenance CE there have been expenses for maintenance by Delaware Operations & that has been proposed at $20,000.00. Line 158 NYS Retirement is estimated at $3500.00, Line 159 Social Sec./Medicare proposed at $1,000.00, Line 160 Workman’s Compensation is proposed at $200.00, Line 161 Unemployment is proposed at $50.00; Line 162 Disability Insurance is proposed at $50.00; Line 163 Hospital & Medical is proposed at $1,000.00 since the bill is going up 11%; Line 164 Contingent Account proposed at $845.00 and Line 165 the Bond Principal is proposed at $54,000.00 for a total Water Fund Expense of $120,050.00.

Bottom line to raise the $295,615.00 Mayor Kearney has built in $.12 cents per thousand raise in taxes; from $7.47 to $7.59; 1.61% under the cap. Mayor Kearney he learned at a training course with the State Comptroller’s Office that it is important to keep pace with inflation. We also have not reached the impact yet of the flood buyouts.

Closing of Public HearingMotion made by Donald E. Kearney to close the public hearing on the budget for 2015-16. Motion seconded by Benjamin Fenton. Donald E. Kearney-Aye. Benjamin Fenton-Aye. Harriet L. Grossman-Aye. Lewis Grocholl-Aye. David Yates-Absent. Motion so carried.

2015-16 Budget AdoptionMotion made by Harriet L. Grossman to adopt the budget with the changes as made. Motion seconded by Lewis Grocholl. Harriet L. Grossman-Aye. Lewis Grocholl-Aye. Donald E. Kearney-Aye. David Yates-Absent. Ben Fenton-Nay. Motion so carried.

Mirabito/Fuel Bid AwardMotion made by Donald E. Kearney for the Village of Fleischmanns to participate in the gasoline, diesel fuel bids, and heating fuel oil as awarded to Mirabito Energy Products. Motion seconded by Lewis Grocholl. Donald E. Kearney-Aye. Lewis Grocholl-Aye. Harriet L. Grossman-Aye. Ben Fenton-Aye. David Yates-Absent. Motion so carried.

Mayor Kearney announced that there was to be some Comptroller’s training in Sydney, Hancock & Dryden coming up towards the end of May 2015. The title of this Mini-Seminar is Board Oversight Responsibilities.

Movie Theatre/Building PermitAt the Meeting of the

Village of Fleischmanns, New YorkHeld at the Skene Memorial Library on

April 27, 2015 andUpon motion made by Donald E. Kearney and seconded by Ben Fenton, the following resolution was duly adopted:Whereas, the Village Board recognizes that the Fleischmanns Theater is an anchor building on Fleischmanns Main Street;Whereas, the Village of Fleischmanns supports the Mark Project’s efforts to stabilize and rehabilitate the historic Fleischmanns Theater;Whereas, the Village of Fleischmanns acknowledges that the Mark Project has received a NYS RURAL Area Revitalization Program Grant for rehabilitation work on the Fleischmanns Theater;Therefore, the Village Board authorizes the Mark Project to undertake the work in the approved Scope of Work for the rehabilitation of the Theater façade, windows and roof.

April 27, 2015State of New York ) )ssCounty of Delaware)I, Lorraine De Marfio, Village Clerk of the Village of Fleischmanns, New York, do

hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct transcript of a resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Fleischmanns, New York on April 27, 2015 and the whole thereof.

--------------------------------------------Lorraine De Marfio, Village Clerk

Village of Fleischmanns

Motion made by Donald E. Kearney to approve the above resolution. Motion seconded by Ben Fenton. Donald E. Kearney-Aye. Ben Fenton-Aye. Lewis Grocholl-Aye. Harriet L. Grossman-Aye. David Yates-Absent. Motion so carried.

AdjournMotion made by Donald E. Kearney to adjourn. Motion seconded by Harriet L. Grossman. Donald E. Kearney-Aye. Harriet L. Grossman-Aye. Ben Fenton-Aye. Lewis Grocholl-Aye. David Yates-Absent. Motion so carried.