By RICK REMSNYDER
Faced with ever increasing employee benefits, the Town of Plattekill adopted its 2023 budget on Nov. 2 with a 1.2 percent increase in the tax levy.
The Town Board voted unanimously to adopt the budget with a tax levy of $4,244,933, an increase of $48,749 over the previous year.
Employee benefits for Town Hall and Town Highway employees increased a combined $137,315, mostly due to substantial increases in health insurance.
Councilman Darryl Matthews said the board did as well as it could considering town officials had no control over the escalating costs of health insurance. Matthews said the tax hike could have been even higher, but board members were able to work with town department heads to keep spending down.
“Even that number (1.2 percent increase) was a lot higher starting out, but we worked with each department and told them their wish list wasn’t coming this year,” Matthews said.
Matthews said the Town of Plattekill had gone nine straight years without increasing the amount to be raised by taxes. He said the town was feeling the pinch now because of the double whammy of the pandemic and the recession.
“Maybe it (tax levy) should have gone up a little bit previously,” Matthews said. “But who saw this coming. The pandemic in 2020 and 2021 and obviously to add on top of it the inflation of the past two years. All the insurance costs are up. All the health care insurance is up. All the benefits for retired people are up. Probably a good 30 percent of the budget we have no control over. Honestly, I think we did a great job because it should be higher.”
Matthews said he still wasn’t happy that the board had to increase the tax levy and was hopeful the following year would be different.
“It’s something we have to live with,” he said. “The increase we had (1.2 percent) isn’t bad when everything else is up 10, 15 and 20 percent.”
Supervisor Jennifer Salemo said she felt the town presented a tight budget, noting that it was still under the state-mandated 2.0 percent tax cap.
“My priority was to keep the taxes low for the taxpayers, so we don’t go over (the tax cap),” she said. “I would like to see it lower, obviously. But with the inflated labor costs, inflated fuel and electricity costs and parts, I think we’re in good shape.”
Salemo said town hall and town highway employees will receive a 2.5 percent pay increase in the new spending plan.
The salaries of elected officials will also go up 2.5 percent in 2023.
Salemo’s salary will increase from $35,974 to $36,873 in 2023. The four town board members would receive a modest $169 pay increase to an annual salary of $6,961.
After the salary hike, Town Highway Superintendent Robert Wager would make $61,162, Town Clerk Donna Hedrick would be paid $46,631 and Town Justices Annamaria Maciocia and Robert Murphy would be paid $22,500 annually.
In other news, Plattekill’s Veterans Day ceremony will start at 1 p.m. on Nov. 11 at the town park.