Press-Republican

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
comments powered by Disqus
October 31, 2009

Clinton County tax levy up slightly

By JOE LoTEMPLIO

PLATTSBURGH — Despite a sluggish economy and a state strapped with large deficits, the proposed 2010 budget for Clinton County remains fairly stable.

The proposed tax levy is $26,804,257, which is tentatively up 2.6 percent, but County Administrator Michael Zurlo, who serves as the budget officer, said that increase could drop.

The county could wind up saving more money, depending on how the open-enrollment period for county employees to choose a health-insurance option shakes out.

Zurlo said premiums for the county's health-insurance plans did not go up as much as expected.

"I'm expecting the tax-levy increase to go down, and it could wind up close to what it was (this) year."

The tax levy increased by .7 percent for the 2009 budget.

The levy is the difference between the government's total expenses and total revenue, the remainder having to be raised by property taxes.

The tax rate fluctuates with assessments, so it is the tax levy that is the better determinant of individual tax bills.

The tax rate is projected to go down for 2010 from $6 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $5.98.

Zurlo said this will mark the first time the county has seen a tax rate below $6 since 2001.

Also, the tax levy will be below the 2007 levy amount of $27,386,552 for the third straight year.

Zurlo said personnel requests, equipment, contract-agency funding and operating budgets were all reduced in order to keep taxes down.

"There are no personnel or service cuts in this budget."

About $2 million was taken from the fund balance to help stabilize the budget, leaving a balance of about 10 percent of the $159 million budget, as recommended by the state.

Sales-tax revenue, which has been a boon to the county the past decade, has slowed down. The county will budget the same amount for that for 2010 ($47.2 million) that it did for 2009, as recommended by the County Treasurer's Office.

"The sluggish economy suggests the sales tax is not going to be what it has been," Zurlo said.

The biggest costs the county are facing are for health insurance, salary increases and associated fringes and contributions to the State Retirement System.

Helping the budget is money from the federal stimulus package, which will go toward offsetting Medicaid costs.

Zurlo said putting together yearly budgets is becoming increasingly challenging, given the state's fiscal shape.

"As most of the role of county governments in the state is to act as agents of the state and carry out mandated services, when New York state hemorrhages, county governments bleed," Zurlo said.

County legislators will discuss the budget plan at this week's Finance Committee meeting. They have until Dec. 9 to approve a final spending package.

E-mail Joe LoTemplio at: jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com

Text Only | Photo Reprints
New Today
  • Attempted-murder trial set

    The case against Robert J. McCann, who is charged with trying to kill his former girlfriend at a secluded Westville site, begins Tuesday in Franklin County Court.

    Posted: 3 hours
Local News

Recent Article Comments
Albany Round-up

Photo of the Day
Strange News
Videos: Editor Picks
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion' 5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La. Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart