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Lake Placid plans tax, water rate increase

Preliminary village budget shows tax increase at cap, 4% water rate increase

LAKE PLACID — The village’s preliminary 2019-20 budget carries both a proposed tax increase and a water rate increase.

The village is proposing to levy, or collect, $3,846,423 in taxes in 2019-20. In the current fiscal year, the village collected $3,728,498. That puts the levy increase at 3.16 percent, which is at the property tax cap set by the state.

Under the plan, introduced Monday, property owners would shoulder a tax rate increase of around 1.6% in the next fiscal year, from $5.57 to $5.66 per $1,000 in assessed property value. For a person whose home is assessed at $200,000, this means a tax increase of roughly $18.

That tax increase could be compounded for some property owners, since assessed values in the village are again expected to rise.

Altogether, the taxable value of properties within the village is projected to increase by $9,824,989, or 1.4%. That’s liable to change. The village’s tax roll will be finalized July 1, according to Essex County Real Property.

A public hearing on the budget is set for June 25 at 5 p.m. in the first floor meeting room of the North Elba Town Hall.

Water rate increase

A water rate increase of 4% across the board — regardless of the amount of residents’ water usage — is also proposed as part of the early budget draft.

Currently, residents who live inside the village pay a base rate of $60.46 per month for the first 2,000 cubic feet of water they use. That price steps to $30.23 per 1,000 for the next 23,000 cubic feet, but Mayor Craig Randall said most residents don’t exceed the base rate.

For most residents, excluding eligible senior citizens, a 4% increase would amount to approximately $2.41 more per month.

The village’s water fund has been running at a deficit for years, Randall said. He believes it’s because a portion of the village isn’t metered.

This year, the village ran at a deficit of $40,000 in its water fund. It used money from reserves to plug the hole, but the leak remains. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, that deficit is expected to grow to $117,212. The village is still planning to use $50,000 from its reserves to stem the tide, but the remaining $67,212 will come from the rate increase.

“This can’t go on,” Randall said. “We can’t continue to have a shortfall.

“I’m advocating for full metering of the village.”

Expense overview

The village’s budget proposal includes a total spending increase of $231,625, or 3.6%.

Randall attributes that primarily to two things: labor agreements with employees that include contractual raises, and the continued rise of health insurance premiums.

Around 75 people work for the village, Randall said. Most are members of a union.

To fund the gap between those expenses and revenue collected, the village has proposed using $425,000 from the general fund and police department reserves, up $25,000 over this year.

Randall said that’s in part because the police department is planning to purchase a $40,000 piece of equipment using money from the asset forfeiture fund — the money officers collect from people they arrest as a result of something like a drug bust — and will send three new officers to the police academy.

The fund balance the village is drawing from is healthy. Randall estimates Lake Placid has approximately $4.5 million in the bank, most of which he said is earmarked for various future infrastructure projects, including improvements to Main Street slated to kick off this year.

According to a report from the state comptroller’s office, the village had a fund balance of more than $4.4 million as of 2017.

The village also had a fiscal stress score of 0.0 out of 100 as of 2017. That’s the best score a municipality can receive from the comptroller’s office. Fiscal stress scores are calculated based on a formula that takes into account a variety of factors, including available general fund balance and fixed costs like debt payments and employee benefits. The neighboring village of Saranac Lake had a fiscal stress score of 1.7 in that same time period. The village of Tupper Lake is at 22.1 as of last year. The City of Amsterdam, Montgomery County, has the state’s highest fiscal stress score of 85.0. Because of that score the city is classified as being “significantly” fiscally stressed, the most severe category.

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