Work underway to streamline budget process
SATISH MOHAN Amherst Supervisor
The 2007 budget for the Town of Amherst was adopted by default on Nov. 20 for $112.55 million against the 2006 budget of $107.88 million, a 4.3 percent increase.

The 2006 budget in reality should have been $110.88 million if we fully accounted for health care and utility costs. Out of this $112.55 million total budget, $73.74 million will be raised in property taxes. The 2007 budget has allocated $2 million for flood-control projects, $1.7 million for totes for rodent control and a half-million dollars for the purchase of the Eggertsville Community Center for youth programs, in the Capital Improvement Budget.

The costs of garbage and other waste materials went up close to $800,000. The major cost in the budget is the cost of personnel. We have a hiring freeze and are trying to reduce personnel through attrition.

The overall tax rate for 2007 has, however, came down by about 3 percent. The owner of a home assessed at $150,000 would pay an estimated $1,547 in town taxes in 2007, down $40 from $1,587 in 2006 for those homes that were not reassessed upward in 2006.

This reduction in taxes will result because total assessed values of real estate in the town increased by 4.1 percent, from $6.87 billion in 2005 to $7.15 billion in 2006. A portion of this increase was due to new buildings increasing the tax base. A total of 10,439 homes had an average of a 9-percent increase in their assessed values. Those homes will now pay 6 percent more in town taxes in 2007 against the 9 percent increase in their assessed values.

The town borrows money every year to fund long-term capital projects such as sewer lines, water lines and flood-control projects. On Dec. 31, 2005, the town’s outstanding debt was $67.18 million. I am trying to reduce this debt amount, which would have to be paid by the future generation.

The budget process, as I went through it, was very time-consuming and tense. The department heads submitted their budgets that totaled 6 percent higher than in 2006 in spite of my request for a 10-percent reduction.

With the first year’s experience, I am now streamlining the budget process to be smoother and with no contentious environment between the departments, the supervisor and the Town Board.

We clearly have to review and establish the need for every service we provide to town residents.

I am now asking all department heads to submit their budgets for the next five years within the next two months. This exercise will prudently and efficiently time the purchases of capital equipment and will forecast the demand for personnel in the various trades so that we can train and develop the future required trades from within the existing town personnel.

The budget determines what we can do throughout the year and directly affects the quality of services.

Its monitoring and control are as important as the initial formulation of the budget, and I am now working with the town comptroller and Town Board to do just that.