A public hearing regarding the Town of Crawford’s 2020 budget was held at town hall on Thursday night. After the brief hearing, the new budget was approved.

Supervisor Charles E. Carnes announced that the 2020 Town of Crawford budget will be below the New York State property tax cap for the eighth consecutive year. Due to this, town residents will be eligible for any New York State tax credit reimbursements. There will be a tax increase of .987 percent for 2020. Carnes noted that the town is in a good place in terms of finance and safety.

“We are in good financial shape,” Carnes said. “The state gradings just came out and the Town of Crawford was graded near the top in terms of safety.”

For the 2020 budget, the general tax levy will be $2,791,286 for the general budget. This has increased $80,906 from this year’s budget. The tax levy for the highway department will be $2,084,446, which is an increase of $24,941 over this year’s budget.

Rateables this year increased from $332,702,352 to $336,744,175, for an increase of $4,041,823.

Water rates increased from $9.59 per unit to $10 per unit. This will lead to an increase of about $10 per year for a single family home. Carnes noted that the town board spent about $200,000 this year on hydrants and will spend between three and $4 million next year on a new water system.

Sewer rates hardly moved at all between this year and next year’s budget. Lighting and parking rates also remained largely unchanged.

Unfunded mandates increased, as New York State raised the age law and expected ruling on court arraignments and representation for those accused of crimes.

Carnes added during the hearing that the largest budget increases in next year’s budget are police services, IT and computers as well as medical and law enforcement. To keep the taxes down, the town board used $100,000 from their fund balance for their general budget and $25,000 from their highway balance.

This year, the walking trail expansion was completed. New park facilities were also completed and new equipment for the highway department was adopted. Next year, the town board anticipates a new water source for Pine Bush and a revitalization of the Bullville area. The board also expects new sidewalks in the shopping area downtown and an expansion of its youth program. Towards the end of the meeting, councilwoman Kelly Eskew applauded Carnes for the work he did on next year’s budget.

“Charlie, I would just like to thank you again for doing such a good job on the budget,” she said. “You put a lot into it and it’s a good one.”