Guest editorial: Budget season has arrived!

By Town of Niagara Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso

It is definitely not the favorite season in municipal government. I want to share some facts about budget season. The budget is often referred to as a guide, and while we try our best to stay within those guidelines, just like in your own households, unexpected expenses occur.

All throughout the year, each month every account has a budget line, and what is spent is deducted monthly. At the end of the year, the “real” amounts that were required for payment are listed, which gives us the amount to try and budget for the following year.

Over the years, the expansion of programs offered by the Recreation Department and senior programs have caused them to be consistently over budget, and rather than cut those programs, they will require a more accurate budget to be put in place. A lot of the lines are very close, and just a cost-of-living increase is needed; and some that had large purchases in the budget line previously may be reduced the next year. The reserve fund is used to cover those additional expenses.

The Police Department budget is very unpredictable and a great portion of the budget as well. With that, we still need to provide these services, so my attempt this year is to prepare a truer budget where we actually budget for the amounts required by each line.

The budget calendar is as follows:

•By Sept. 1, the department heads are furnished with their budget sheets to fill in their budget needs.

•By Sept. 20, the department budgets are returned to the supervisor’s office. where the supervisor has been the budget officer for as long as anyone can remember.

•By Sept. 30, the budget officer reviews the submittals and tentatively prepares a budget and submits to the town clerk to be presented to the Town Board for further consideration. Usually by this time, the new “tentative” tax rates are known, but they are not necessarily the final tax rate. This could change with changes made in further review by the councilmen.

The Town Board, together, reviews each line and decides what can be cut or not, what more might be needed, etc. Department heads are invited to explain their needs for their department. A public hearing and approval is then held on the proposed tentative budget any time before the Thursday following Election Day. The final budget must be adopted by Nov. 20.

Some facts that are input into the budget and are not currently negotiable are the wage increases agreed upon on their last contract update, as well as health insurance premiums have increased by 13%. In order to continue the current services, maintain the parks and provide the working tools for each department, as well as police and fire protection, everything is microscopically reviewed and budgeted accordingly.

All notices for the budget public hearing and adoption are on our agenda, which is on the town website, www.townofniagara.com, as well as the newspaper’s public notices section.

Transparency and open dialogue is very important to me as your town supervisor.