Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli unveiled his proposed 2016 Budget today which will hold the line on the County property tax rate for the tenth straight year.
Santulli’s 2016 Budget proposal recommends a General Fund Tax Levy of $29,012,588, an increase of .4% over the 2015 tax levy of $28,892,515. Further, this budget proposal recommends total net appropriations of $180,963,356 for the fiscal year that commences on January 1, 2016. This represents an increase of $2,037,974 from the $178,925,382 approved by the Legislature for the current fiscal year. The Budget is now subject to review and approval by the County Legislature.
“I am pleased to be able to present to the Legislature a budget that maintains the County Tax Rate at $6.86 per thousand of assessed valuation” Santulli said. “This budget continues to hold the line on spending on all programs that are under our control and not impacted by the mandates of the State of New York or Federal government. The difficulty is that less than 20% of our budget falls in that category. Due to these out-of-control mandates, I must recommend to the Legislature that we appropriate at least $1.8 million of our reserves to balance the 2016 spending plan.”
Santulli added.
“New Yorkers pay 81% more in property taxes than the national average. These high taxes have driven businesses and people out of our State. I believe that our County has always been aggressive and creative in dealing with financial issues,” Santulli went on to say. “Last year, we developed the Chemung County Financial Restructuring Plan. This document has become our foundation for a series of fiscal actions that will help alleviate some of the fiscal stress caused by unfunded mandates. This plan was developed to maximize our revenues and reduce our expenses by working together with local municipalities. If our community is going to compete in the global economy, we must all work together to share services, reduce costs, and lower taxes,” Santulli said.
The County Legislature has scheduled workshop sessions to review the proposed 2016 Budget on November 11th and November 12th beginning at 6:30 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 16th.
There will be a special meeting of the Legislature on November 23rd following the Committee Meetings to adopt the 2016 County Budget.
The Proposed Budget is available for viewing in the Legislative Chambers and on the County website at www.chemungcounty.com