Preliminary budget increases levy 2.6 percent

YATES COUNTY--Yates County Administrator Sarah Purdy released the 2015 tentative budget Monday, Oct. 20, showing a tax levy increase of $404,621, or 2.6 percent. In a letter to the legislature, Purdy said the tax levy increase remains under the amount allowed by the tax cap by $5,626.

"The tentative 2015 budget [...] meets the budget guideline issued by the legislature's finance committee in June, to stay within the tax cap, by using monies from five dedicated funds and reserves to offset specific expenses, using a significant amount of general fund balance, curtailing costs wherever possible, and by only supporting new departmental requests that are urgent or critical in nature," said Purdy in her letter to the legislature.
The total appropriations are estimated to be $42,783,979. The total tax levy to be raised amounts to $15,857,813. Yates County Legislator Gary Montgomery said the basic difference he has seen so far in the budget has been a nearly $500,000 increase in revenue over last year, which total is estimated to be $24,584,934. Montgomery said $158,900 of this money came from New York State gaming revenue.
Purdy said she used five dedicated funds -- building, infrastructure, telephone equipment, tourism and communications capital funds -- to help offset costs in the budget. She added while she was able to reduce the amount of general fund money to be spent by $150,000 this year, it is still depleting the general fund faster than it can be replenished.
"For several years the county's auditors have advised the county to reduce its annual reliance on the use of $2 million in general fund balance to offset costs because the balance is not replenishing itself by $2 million per year so the source is dwindling and the dependency is unsustainable," Purdy said. "Although the proposed use for 2015 shows a $150,000 reduction, it has not been possible to move further away from the dependency on use of fund balance without exceeding the tax cap. In order to address this structural deficiency, I urge that if the legislature makes further expenditure reductions and/or revenue increases before adopting the budget, the total of general fund balance to be used be reduced by a corresponding amount, leaving the tax levy increase the same as it is now. It is the only way to reduce the dependency."
The budget workshops to review the tentative 2015 budget will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 27 and Tuesday, Oct. 28 in the Yates County legislature chambers. The review of community agency allocations will begin at 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27.