Town of Monroe approves 2012 budget without staff cuts

Monroe — In her 2012 budget message, Supervisor Sandy Leonard said the Town of Monroe s adopted a budget that maintains services at current levels without reducing staff. “While the town tax rates have increases of 2.7 percent for a village home and 2.9 percent for a home outside the villages, the town tax bill for all residents in the refuse district will benefit from a decreased of $80 per single family home for this service,” Leonard said in her message. The 2012 town tax bill for a resident with a home assessed at $50,000 in the refuse district will decrease by $71 for a village resident and $66 for a resident outside the villages. The savings over last year’s tax bill were made possible through a renegotiation of the refuse contract. The new contract can be extended over the next five years, therefore locking in these savings for town residents. The Town Board used $520,000 in fund balance to achieve the final budget. The fund balance used includes $348,000 for the final payment to close the landfill and the next to the last payment for the new town park. Using fund balance for the landfill and park rather than raising these amounts by taxation is part of a five-year spending plan the Town Board initiated in 2008. Making the final payment on the New town park in 2013 will complete this five-year plan. Based on current financing the board anticipates that by 2016 the Town of Monroe will be debt free. The Town Board will start a new five-year plan in January. By the numbers The tax rate town wide is $6.4006 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of 2.67 percent. The tax rate outside the villages is $9.4287 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, an increase of $2.9 percent. The owner of a village home assessed at $50,000 will have a 2012 tax bill of $320.03, or $8.33 more than he or she paid this year. The same homeowner will pay $649.02 for refuse collection, or $71.77 less than this year. The owner of a home in the Town of Monroe outside the village assessed at $50,000 will have a 2013 tax bill of $471.43, or an increase of $13.29. Refuse collection will cost $800.42 in the coming year, which will be $66.80 less than current levels.