SARANAC LAKE — The village board is proposing a $6.28 million general fund budget for the new fiscal year, which is projected to be below the state’s tax cap and includes funding for some new projects — the product of savings, investments and cuts Mayor Jimmy Williams said village staff were able to make this year.

The village will hold a public hearing on this budget tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the village office on the second floor of 39 Main St. The meeting will also be streamed on Zoom at https://bit.ly/41pkO7o or by using the meeting ID: 841 5331 7661.

Village Treasurer Bachana Tsiklauri said the tentative budget on the village website does not yet include some suggested changes from the board on where money should be allocated, but the broad strokes of the budget are finished.

The $6,283,077 tentative budget increases expenses by $61,817 from the current year.

The tentative budget predicts $1.7 million in revenues in the coming year, a bit over $200,000 more than the current year. It also calls for pulling $412,990 from its reserves to bolster the budget.

To fund the rest of the proposed budget, the village would levy $4,288,907 in taxes from property owners, $78,973 more than the current fiscal year. A tax levy is the amount to be raised from taxpayers. Tsiklauri said with the state-imposed tax cap on the village and village assessments rising slightly this year, the cap is at 2.99% this year.

The proposed levy increase is right at the maximum dollar amount the state would allow the village to raise the levy without the village board having to vote to override the tax cap.

The village board plans to vote to adopt the final budget in a meeting on April 24.

Williams said he is happy with the work the village’s all-new financial staff did this year. The village has a new treasurer, new deputy treasurer and new village manager.

“I think were were able to cut a lot of unnecessary costs to provide funds for other purposes and projects,” Williams said.

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Savings and new revenue

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One way the village is saving money in this year is through spending unspent funds carried over from previous years, Tsiklauri said.

He said when money in each department is budgeted and not spent in that year, it rolls over into the next year’s budget.

Village Manager Erik Stender said in some cases, there’s a year’s worth of money in some department budgets. Tsiklauri said some of these unspent funds have carried over over the course of several years.

Tsiklauri said this budget moves some of this encumbered money to the unreserved general fund balance to be spent on larger projects — the village has several of these going on right now, he said.

The village has an unreserved general fund balance with $3.43 million in it. The tentative budget calls for the village to use $412,990 from this fund on the general fund.

This village fund was $5 million last year, which was considered by some village residents to be too large. The previous village board moved $2.5 million of that money into a special reserve fund for a new emergency services building.

In 2021, the village switched the metering of the hydroelectric power created at the dam it owns where Lake Flower flows into the Saranac River under Main Street to a “remote net metering” of the electricity. Instead of selling electricity to the grid at wholesale prices, it creates credits for the village, allowing the government to write off the power it produces at the dam.

Tsiklauri also said the village has been saving money in this past year with a new insurance company and a cheaper phone system.

Williams said Tsiklauri and deputy Treasurer Patrick Murphy introduced a new strategy for the money the village has in the bank.

Tsiklauri said they consolidated village bank accounts and negotiated a higher interest rate with its bank. The village now earns a 4% interest rate on the money it has in the bank, Tsiklauri said, compared to the 0.25% interest rate the village previously got.

He said this has earned the village around $90,000 since it started in early February. These interest rates are subject to change, he added, but they probably won’t be dropping for now, he believes, given the state of the Federal Reserve’s setting of interest rates.

Williams said this new money allows the village to support things like local civic groups.

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New spending

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This budget includes funding for local civic groups — the Saranac Lake Civic Center, Youth Center, Adult Center and Chamber of Commerce — renewing funding that went away in the past.

Village funding for some of these groups existed in the past, but has been on hold for several years now, Williams said, since it was seen as “double dipping” by previous boards when these groups also get money from the local towns. But he said these groups “need all they can get to survive” and the board wants to renew the funding.

The tentative budget also includes $20,000 for a “test year” of a ridesharing subsidy voucher program. This would allow villagers to take part in a program that would pay for portions of their fares hailing rides from apps like Uber or Lyft.

“Between folks in financial need and seniors who don’t drive anymore, the need for transportation in Saranac Lake is real,” Williams said.

The village does not have an official taxi company, public transportation is not frequent enough and there are not many drivers for these rideshare apps because there’s not much demand, he said.

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Tax rate

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Residents who live in the Harrietstown part of Saranac Lake would pay $13.33 per $1,000 of assessed property value under the proposed budget, a $0.19 — or 1.45% — increase from the current fiscal year. Residents in the North Elba and St. Armand parts of Saranac Lake would pay $11.20 per $1,000 of assessed property value, a $0.62 — or 5.31% — decrease.

Someone who owns a $200,000 house in the Harrietstown part of Saranac Lake would pay $2,665.58 in village taxes, $38.08 more than last year.

Someone who owns a $200,000 house in the North Elba or St. Armand part of Saranac Lake would pay $2,239.10 in village taxes, $125.66 less than last year.

The village sits inside three towns. The tax rates in each town are different because each town assesses properties differently. To ensure that each town’s taxpayers pay their fair share in taxes, the state has something called an equalization rate, which equalizes each towns’ assessments to full market value to make up for any differences in how properties are assessed. Harrietstown has an equalization rate of 84% because it is under-assessed, according to the state. North Elba and St. Armand are assessed at 100%.

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Wages

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Tsiklauri said that, overall, wages are up 7 to 8%. The police department’s wages are up 10% because of contractual increases and overtime, he added.

Wages for the mayor and trustees are staying the same — $5,000 for each trustee — a total of $20,000 for the four-member board — and $10,000 for the mayor.

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Utilities budgets

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The village is planning to spend $10.8 million altogether this year, spread across three budgets: its general fund budget, water and sewer budgets.

The general fund budget outlines expenses for most village operations, including things like employee salaries and benefits. The water and sewer funds pay for things like maintenance of water and sewer infrastructure.

Water and sewer budgets are funded by ratepayers, which might not be everyone in the village — and includes some people who don’t live in the village but get village services for these utilities.

There are no rate increases proposed for either water or sewer ratepayers.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the salaries for village trustees and the mayor. The actual salaries are $5,000 for each trustee and $10,000 for the mayor. These salaries are split up in three sections in the budget — general, water and sewer. The Enterprise regrets the error.