FULTON, NY – Fulton officials are currently projecting a 0.5 percent tax increase for the 2018 city budget, however, many are hopeful it can be further reduced to zero increase at all.
In an introductory budget discussion, the Fulton Common Council was presented the 2018 budget as it currently stands.
City clerk/chamberlain Dan O’Brien explained the process in which he and Mayor Ronald Woodward Sr. begin calculating the city budget, first soliciting budgets from each city department head and furthering to meet with them and make cuts where possible.
“We ask them questions – what can you do without? What do you need? Where can we trim this a little bit? And then we come up with the numbers that we’ve come up with today,” he said.
From there, O’Brien explained each of the city’s four fund sources.
The general fund is what sets the tax rate, he started.
The three remaining funds- garbage and refuse, water, and sewer, are self-sustaining funds, he said, and unrelated to the general tax rate.
For 2018, expenditures in the general fund currently total $16,428,819, an increase of $182,680 from 2017.
Revenues for 2018 currently sit at $9,502,497 stemming from sales tax, city fees for general items, fines, state aid, and more.
After calculating the adjusted revenue, the city faces a $6,958,960 deficit to reach 2018 expenditures.
Using the city’s total assessed value of $337,533,626, an increase from last year in part due to the current council’s push to sell properties retrieved by the city on tax foreclosure, O’Brien calculates the tax rate necessary to fulfill the deficit.
“We end up with the tax rate of $20.62 per thousand to generate enough revenue to make 2018 sustainable, a 12 cent per thousand increase from 2017 we’re at right now,” O’Brien said.
From the initial start of the budget process, O’Brien and Mayor Woodward were able to trim the tax rate increase from 6.5 percent to the current 0.5 percent, though both are confident that with continued work that number will continue decreasing.
“I feel good about it,” O’Brien told Oswego County Today. “The Mayor and I worked diligently up to this point and I think we can even do a little better.”
Mayor Woodward agreed, “I feel pretty good that we are not going to have a tax increase. We really start with several wish lists and work from there to serve the needs of the city while being mindful of spending.”
Members of the common council will take time to review the budget in its entirety and bring forth any suggestions or concerns they may have before the final draft goes in front of the community at a public hearing.
“I think it’s pretty good right now but I think we can do better, I think we can get it to zero,” said council president and second ward councilor, David Ritchie.
The garbage budget stands at an equal balance, bringing in and spending the same amount, $1,444,350.
The water budget sits at a $41,518 surplus after expending 1,450,842 and bringing in $1,492,360 in revenue, allowing to put money back in its fund balance.
The sewer budget, however, faces a $112,903 deficit as expenditures total $1,740,803 and revenues total 1,627,900 after facing losses from the county on leachate.
Though these numbers are not final, O’Brien heeds that the sewer budget may require balancing from its fund balance.
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Fulton’s leadership strategy continues to rely on taxing themselves out of debt. Its been that way since the early 80s. They continue kicking the can down the road. Only problem is they have reached the end of the road and are circling the drain at this point. Have they not figured out hald of zero is still zero? Many folks having nothing more to give. Many simply move to another town where taxes are less burdensome. Its resl simple. Do across the board cuts in every dept. Dont ask dept heads to tell you what they could do without. If the Mayor was actually involved, he would know exactly after 2 decades where the fat can be trimmed.
So what services do you want cut? They already do a bad job plowing the roads in the winter and repairing potholes in the summer. Cut the police? Go with a volunteer fire dept. ? Do away with garbage pick up?