From The Desk of the Mayor March 2013

I would like to thank everyone who braved the elements and came out to the library to vote in the Village election last Tuesday. All four sitting candidates were elected back to their seats so there will be no change in the make up of the Village board this time around. I would like to congratulate Trustees Kathleen Rostad and David Yates for success in their first Village election, and I would like to congratulate Deputy Mayor Ben Fenton for being re-elected to his post. I will also take this opportunity to thank Kathleen, David, and Ben for their continued service and commitment to the improvement of our Village. It is certainly not always easy to step forward and accept such responsibility and leadership roles and I consider the Village fortunate to be able to benefit from their public service. I know I speak for all on the board when I say I am eager and honored to continue serving for the good of the residents of Fleischmanns. Now its time to get back to work. April is the official beginning of the new terms in office and it is also the month that our annual budget which takes affect June 1st must be passed. The Mayor is charged with starting the process by filing a tentative version of the budget with the Village clerk. Changes to the budget are then offered by members of the Board and the public will have a chance to comment before it is adopted. The following are highlights from and commentary about the recently submitted tentative budget document. Fleischmanns 2013-2014 Village Budget This year it will be harder than any since Ive been in the process to balance our budget. For starters, the flood destroyed more than 6% of the taxable property in the Village. There are a considerable amount of back taxes owed the Village which take time to be recouped. On the expenses side, costs continue to rise such as health insurance and other forms of insurance, payroll expenses, fuel, fire protection, etc. Even considering all of these factors, I still believe the proper place to start the budget discussion is from a balanced budget that does not raise the tax rate. In order to get there, some drastic cuts were made and some creativity was employed as well. Hence any discussion of adding back things that were cut or adding new expenses needs to be accompanied by discussion of where the increased revenue would come from to pay for them. Likewise, any reductions in foreseen revenue would have to be accompanied by discussion of further reduction in expenses to offset such.

The following are the highlights of what was changed from the previous year: Estimated property tax revenue, assuming the same tax rate, is down from $271,547to $254,244 It has been the trend over the past several years that we recoup a significant amount of back taxes and penalties associated. In other words, you can run but you cant hide from the taxman. For this reason the estimated delinquent taxes plus penalties has increased to $41,500 from $29,000 Pool receipts have been raised from $3,600 to $4,500 which is a 25% or $900 increase in the amount of revenue that needs to be brought in over last years total Trustee salaries have been cut down from $1,200 to $1 per board member and from $2,400 to $1 for the Mayor Recreation expenses decrease from $10,000 to $8,000 Health insurance is estimated to go down from $20,000 to $19,500 assuming we switch carriers to take advantage of a better deal for the same type plan There are no raises for our Village employees, no increases in expenditures anywhere except those we are required to pay such as the retirement system contributions

Again, as far as I can tell, this pathway is the only one which will deliver a responsible budget in balance which does not raise taxes. God Bless, have a Happy Passover and a Happy Easter! Todd Pascarella, Mayor

P.S. Many of you have switched away from receiving paper copies of this newsletter in favor of email ones and I thank you. However, if you still receive this newsletter by mail and are able to have it emailed please contact us and let us know. It would be great to be able to reduce the cost of mailing this letter even more. Thank you. Village Office 1017 Main Street (PO Box 339) Fleischmanns, NY 12430 phone 845-254-5514 email: village39@catskill.net website: www.fleischmannsny.com