The North Elba Town Hall (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

LAKE PLACID — North Elba lawmakers adopted the town’s 2020 budget as proposed Tuesday night.

The budget will meet the state’s tax cap, according to town Supervisor Roby Politi, as the town’s budgets have since the tax cap was implemented in 2012. The town’s cap is 2%, and that’s how much its total tax levy, including special districts, would increase from this year.

To fund general fund operations, the town will seek to levy $1,337,282 from taxpayers, an increase of more than 5% over this year. There’s also a $1,622,873 levy for North Elba Park District costs, a 2.4% increase.

The town is projecting a general fund tax rate of 59 cents per $1,000 in assessed value, a 5 cent increase, and a Park District tax rate of 74 cents per $1,000, an increase of 2 cents.

Depending on where residents live, there may be additional tax increases related to fire protection and water districts or highway services. There are three exceptions: taxpayers who live outside the village and pay into a separate general fund and highway fund, and taxpayers who contribute to the Ray Brook water district, will each see a tax rate decrease.

General fund expenses are projected to increase by $124,855, from $3,244,564 this year to $3,369,419 next year, according to a budget summary provided by the town.

The town plans to pay those expenses using more than $1.3 million in property tax revenue, an increase of $68,119, or 5.3%. The rest will come from revenue generated through things like fees, fines and licenses, and $328,752 from the town’s reserves, an increase of 18% over this year.

Expenses for general and highway operations outside the village of Lake Placid are expected to decrease by a combined $104,221, according to the town’s budget summary. The tax levy to fund those operations would decrease, too — by approximately $106,300, if the town uses $207,405 from its reserves to bridge the gap between expenses and a projected $165,326 decline in revenue.

Park District revenue is projected to increase by $16,572, but a tax levy increase of $39,527 is planned to fund the expected $56,099 increase in expenses for the district. That increase in expenses is fueled in part by new equipment purchases the town has planned, including a pickup truck for the show grounds and a replacement Polaris snowblower for use on Mirror Lake, according to the budget summary.

A public hearing on the town’s preliminary 2020 budget was held Tuesday at 6:50 p.m., just before the start of the town board’s regular meeting. Three other public hearings were scheduled that evening at the North Elba Town Hall: one on the town’s contracts with the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department and Saranac Lake Rescue Squad at 6:30 p.m., one on the town’s franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable Northeast LLC (Spectrum) at 6:40 p.m., and another regarding the assessment roll for the Ray Brook water district at 6:45 p.m. All of those items were subsequently approved by the town council. There was no public comment.