Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli unvieled his proposed 2013 Budget on Thursday which will hold the line on the County property tax rate for the eighth straight year.
Santulli’s 2013 Budget proposal recommends a General Fund Tax Levy of $27,477,282, an increase of 1.7% over the 1012 tax levy of $27,005,000. Further, this Budget proposal recommends total net appropriations of $177,082,893 for the fiscal year that commences on January 1, 2013. This represents a deacrease of $133,882 or 0.1% from the $177,216,755 approved by the Legislature for the current fiscal year. The Budget is now subject to review and approval by the County Legislature.
“Despite the continuing fiscal pressures of New York State’s unfunded mandates, I am pleased to be able to present the Chemung County Legislature a budget which continues the previous year’s tax rate of $6.98 per thousand of assessed valuation,” Santulli said. “This is a very lean budget in what will be a bery challenging financial environment for Chemung County government. Due to the softening economy we are beginning to see the stresses with a higher unemployment rate, reduced sales and room taxe revenues, and job losses at major employers,” added Santulli. Santulli went on to say, “In 2013, the Executive branch and the Legislature are going to have to work tirelessly togther to keep Chemung County from being a victim of the broken promises of State government. Until the Governor and State Legislature honor their commitments to do meaningful mandate relief, develop the courage to make a decision on natural gas exploration, and put in place incentive programs that will attract new business to our State, our future is in serious jeopardy. Knowing that we are not going to get any help from the State of New York, it is imperative that we maximize our revenues and continue to reduce our expenditures where possible.”
Chemung County Legislator Rodney J. Strange attended Santulli’s news conference announcing the proposed 2013 Budget and was very encouraged to see that it contained no tax increase. “We must continue to keep taxes stable for County taxpayers. We cannot raise taxes on our residents,” Strange said. He also agrees with the County Executives assursion that the State must provide counties with mandate relief and pledged to continue to work with Santulli to see that happen.
The County Legislature has scheduled workshop sessions to review the proposed 2013 Budget on November 13th following the regular meeting which begins at 7:00 PM and on November 14th at 7:00 PM in the 5th floor Legislative Chambers of the Hazlett Building. The public is welcome at these sessions, as well as at the formal Public Hearing to be held on the Budget at 7:00 PM on November 19th. A Special meeting of the Legislaure to adopt the Budget will be held at 7:30 PM on November 26th.
The proposed Budget is available for viewing in the Legislative Chambers and on the County website: www.chemungcounty.com