NEWS
Opinion County Budget on Target
With the next proposed budget almost ready for a vote, let's take a look at the efforts of the current County Board of Supervisors and Treasurer Bill Cherry's efforts to deal with the current issues.
With rapidly declining property values in flood-damaged areas and the national recession, the natural increase of home prices continues to lag, putting severe pressure on the bottom line. Couple this with unfunded mandates and shifts in aid from New York State and the situation should seem dire.
Fortunately, we've had a man like Bill Cherry guarding the purse strings or we would be in trouble.
The fact that the County remains without debt and has effectively managed its budget during prosperity, recession, and the aftermath of the flood shows the acumen that Cherry has lent to the taxpayers of the County.
This is reflected in the current budget.
It is not perfect, but a work in progress crafted by someone that has spent countless hours on task. Yes-- there was a 2.62% levy increase but this still came in under the tax cap and during such trying circumstances. On top of this, there was an increase in revenue sharing with the individual municipalities of the County-- in and of itself quite an accomplishment.
Considering all of the increased stream remediation costs and other herculean efforts, every taxpayer has a certain thanks for the Board's decision-- but especially Mr. Cherry. After all, wouldn't you rather pay a debt of gratitude than the County debt the Treasurer erased?
With rapidly declining property values in flood-damaged areas and the national recession, the natural increase of home prices continues to lag, putting severe pressure on the bottom line. Couple this with unfunded mandates and shifts in aid from New York State and the situation should seem dire.
Fortunately, we've had a man like Bill Cherry guarding the purse strings or we would be in trouble.
The fact that the County remains without debt and has effectively managed its budget during prosperity, recession, and the aftermath of the flood shows the acumen that Cherry has lent to the taxpayers of the County.
This is reflected in the current budget.
It is not perfect, but a work in progress crafted by someone that has spent countless hours on task. Yes-- there was a 2.62% levy increase but this still came in under the tax cap and during such trying circumstances. On top of this, there was an increase in revenue sharing with the individual municipalities of the County-- in and of itself quite an accomplishment.
Considering all of the increased stream remediation costs and other herculean efforts, every taxpayer has a certain thanks for the Board's decision-- but especially Mr. Cherry. After all, wouldn't you rather pay a debt of gratitude than the County debt the Treasurer erased?