Proposed Poquott Budget Won't Raise Tax Rate

A budget hearing is set for April 28 in the Village of Poquott, where the village board has proposed a budget which keeps the tax rate at $14 per $100 of assessed value for the fourth year in a row.

"Everyone's hard pressed and looking for a break," mayor Barbara Donovan said at the village's April 14 board meeting. "If we raised taxes at this point, it would have been devastating."

The village's proposed 2011-2012 budget projects expenses totaling $446,208 – nearly 29 percent less than the 2010-2011 budget – and revenue totaling $430,814. Those projections leave a deficit of more than $15,000, which Poquott treasurer John Lane said "is not enough to worry about at this point" since the village has wound up underspending in the past.

Residents will have the chance to sound off on the village's proposed budget on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. at Village Hall. Based on feedback it receives from its residents at the hearing – which some on the village board acknowledged has typically had low turnout – the village board will vote whether to formally adopt the budget or make additional revisions.

Donovan described the budget as fiscally conservative. "We really did it to the barebones," she said, "and we haven't had to cut any services."

However, she added, the village is also opting not to take on new expenses it would have liked to consider, such as new playground equipment. But Donovan, who spent years as a grant writer by profession, indicated there may be grants the village can apply for to pursue some of those new projects.

The proposed budget includes increases in areas like grounds maintenance, insurance premiums, and social security and Medicare contributions for employees. It includes cutbacks in overall spending on engineering services, parks, and a line item funding the village's website and supplies, equipment, and utilities for Village Hall.