Yates budget tops $39M for next year

    PENN YAN—The 2012 Yates County budget meets the tax cap imposed by New York State earlier this year. The total budget as proposed is $39,383,637. Of this amount, the total tax levy is $13,037,071, a 4.9 percent increase over the 2011 tax levy. The path taken to meeting the cap is lined with cuts.
    Proposed total expenses for 2012 are $1,088,501 less than the total budgeted expenses for 2011. The cost of state mandates has increased $747,852. This is an increase of 9.6 percent. The cost of mandates represents 62.8 of the tax levy for 2011. The mandates represent 66 percent of the 2012 tax levy. The increase in the cost of the mandates is $135,000 more than the increase in the tax levy.
    There is a loss of state aid of $824,293. The only way to reduce the tax levy is through total elimination of services and through speculative assumptions about fund balance and sales tax revenue.
    The reduction or elimination of several staff positions will result in a total savings of $301,086.
Funding for several community agencies has been eliminated.
    The total requested for 2010 was $718.190. The total recommended is $610,241. Agencies that received funding in 2011 that have no funding recommended in 2012 include Finger Lakes Economic Development Center, RSVP, Penn Yan Recreation, Dundee Youth Center and Child and Family Resource Center and also the Yates County Agricultural Society. Finger Lakes Museum did not request funds for 2012. Tourism agencies including Yates County Chamber of Commerce, Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance and Finger Lakes Wine Tourism either retained the level of funding received in 2011 or received slight increases. A portion of the funding for tourism agencies is realized from occupancy tax revenue.
    Purchase of needed equipment, vehicles and computers will be deferred.
    Budget workshops were scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 1 and Wednesday, Nov. 2. A public hearing on the budget, including any further changes that are made as a result of the workshops will be scheduled the week of Nov. 21. A special meeting to adopt the 2012 budget will be on Monday, Nov. 28 or Monday, Dec. 5.