Proposed town tax levy up, tax rate steady

By Patricia Bogumil

Editor

The tax levy to be paid in the proposed 2013 Town of Waterford budget will rise by $7,181 (0.385 percent) from last year.

But even better is the news that the town’s mil rate will stay the same, at $2.48 per $1,000 assessed value.

For the owner of a  $200,000 township home, that will again equate to $496 in town taxes owed on the upcoming 2013 tax bill.

The town’s proposed 2013 budget will be presented for discussion and a vote at a public hearing being held Monday, Nov. 19, 5:30 p.m., at the Waterford Town Hall.

The budget proposes $2.9 million in revenues and expenditures for 2013, down $52,725  (1.78 percent) from last year. The drop in tax revenue is largely due to a loss in property values and assessments, according to Town Chairman Robert Langmesser.

To balance the proposed budget, several strategies were taken.

• Overtime pay for the town’s six full-time police officers will be cut in 2013 by using more part-time officers, said Langmesser.

Also, enhanced “power shift” policing on the weekends will be dropped. Under last year’s budget, double shift patrolling was dropped just on weekdays.

Town police have also been notified of the need for them to take a pay freeze as their current union contract expires. “We don’t have the money to give them, so they have to,” commented Langmesser.

For the second year in a row, town board members are accepting a pay freeze, he said.

• About $44,000 has been saved in health care costs by switching to a private sector insurance provider, said Langmesser.

The 2013 budget will continue to offer residents the same level of services, at the same tax rate, that have been in place for years, said Langmesser. “We’ve had to cut internally, but we’re not cutting the services we provide.”