SARANAC LAKE – Town of Harrietstown officials have cut the potential tax levy increase for next year.

As it was originally proposed, the preliminary 2017 budget would increase the tax levy – the portion of the budget that comes from property taxes – by 11.5 percent, or $268,992, going from $2,332,769 to $2,601,761.

In recent days, however, adjustments to the budget have reduced the levy increase to 4.2 percent, or $97,992. The proposed levy is now $2,430,761.

“We’re looking pretty good, considering where we were before,” town Supervisor Mike Kilroy said Tuesday.

The town board will hold a public hearing on the budget at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the first-floor board room of the Harrietstown Town Hall, 39 Main St., Saranac Lake.

Overall spending would increase 5 percent, or $244,747, from $4,916,890 to $5,161,637

If the budget is approved as it stands right now, the tax rate for Harrietstown residents inside the village of Saranac Lake would increase from $1.46 to $1.49 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That means the owner of a $150,000 home in the Harrietstown section of the village would pay $4.50 more in town taxes; the bill would go from $219 to $223.50.

The tax rate for Harrietstown residents outside the village would rise from $3.09 per $1,000 to $3.23 per $1,000. That means the owner of a $150,000 home outside the village limits would pay $21 more, with the bill going from $463.50 to $484.50.

Among some of the changes, Kilroy said the latest version of the budget removes a $40,000 first payment for new windows on the town hall. The town recently discovered the windows are defective, so the first payment won’t have to be made until the 2018 budget, Kilroy said.

Instead of buying a new truck for Code Enforcement Officer Ed Randig for $30,000, the town has budgeted $6,000 to lease a truck.

Kilroy had budgeted $225,000 to pay off a loan for a retaining wall behind the town hall and the cost of a new handicapped-accessible ramp at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center. In the latest version of the proposed budget, Kilroy reduced that to $50,000. The town is expecting the expense will be covered by funding the town has been promised by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The town also adjusted revenues from jet fuel at the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear, although “we’re still being pretty conservative,” Kilroy said.

Despite the changes, the proposed tax levy would still exceed the state’s tax cap for the town. Its maximum allowable levy under the state’s formula is $2,358,288, an increase of $16,277. The proposed levy is $2,430,761, an increase of $97,992.