Town of Gaines Budget for 2019
On October 30, 2018, the Gaines Town Board held a budget workshop session to review the preliminary budget prepared by the Supervisor and move it forward in the budget process. (Approve it as the tentative budget).
A lot of work was put into the budget to keep taxes flat. The tentative budget is a very conservative one, both in expenditures and in estimates of revenue. One item of note for the 2019 Budget cycle is the reduction in the Assessment Equalization Rate by the State of New York from 100% to 98%. This has a net effect of lowering the assessed values in the town by about 0.64%. That equates to an instant tax increase without efforts to reduce the tax levy. We were able to prepare a budget that accounts for this and keeps taxes flat this year, even in the face of rising costs for salaries, fuel, salt, etc. If this budget is approved as it stands today, taxpayers in Gaines who reside within the Village of Albion will see a very slight reduction in the Town portion of their property taxes. Those outside the village will see the Town portion of their taxes stay flat – within pennies in fact – of last year’s values.
The Town of Gaines will go through an assessment revaluation in 2019, which will have the effect of raising our equalization rate back to 100%.
Attached to this post are the documents reviewed at the Budget Workshop Meeting, which includes the entire Tentative Budget for 2019.
The annual public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Thursday, November 8th, 2018 at 7:00 PM. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Board will move directly into the regular November meeting.