Wayne County Life

By John Addyman

   NEWARK (Oct 15 10) – Taxes are going up in Arcadia, based on a preliminary budget that will be discussed at a special meeting of the town board on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.

   Residents of the Town of Arcadia who live outside the Village of Newark can expect to pay 2.35 percent more in taxes, bringing their levy to $4.75 per $1,000 of assessed valuation; inside Newark, the Arcadia taxes will go up $1.88 percent, to $2.54/$1000 assessed valuation. 

   The total Arcadia budget is $2.947 million ($1.03 million for general government, $1.75 million for highways and $168,000 for fire protection). Salaries for employees will rise 2 percent; board members and Supervisor Dick Colacino will see no raises. The 2011 budget appropriation is $128,126 over the 2010 number, an increase of 4 percent.  

    Based on the tentative budget number, Arcadia expects to see revenue of $856,400 from all non-real estate tax sources ($22,000 more than last year), while using $165,000 of its fund balance ($15,000 less than last year), and raising the remainder with $1.9 million in taxes ($121,000 more than last year).

   “We kept everything down as much as we could,” said Kathy Mull, clerk to the supervisor, who works with budget figures every day. Hers is a job that will be split in the coming year as she eventually goes part-time and is replaced by Cristina Wood. The salary for that position was $29,523 last year; it will be $36,000 or less next year as the position stabilizes.

   Many budget items press this year’s expenses into 2011, dollar-for-dollar.

   One exception is the town board’s $35,700 annual contribution to the NAVA ambulance association. This year, NAVA requested that the board not pay the $35,700; instead, the association will now collect insurance co-pays from those it transports. Heretofore, Arcadia residents didn’t have to ante up the co-pay.

   In discussions with the board, NAVA said this was a “trial” year and suggested it might want to change the arrangement if it doesn’t seem to be working financially. The board said it couldn’t shift things mid-way through a budget year and it would have to go one way or the other. So for this year, the budget ejoys a $35,700 savings.

   The board set aside $20,000 in a “future projects” highway account to be able to equip the new highway barn, which remains a complete shell.

   Also set aside in the budget is $22,000 for a school resource police officer at the high school, someone whose positions is equally paid for by the school district, the village and the town. The school administration was discussing the possibility of having a deputy sheriff assigned to Newark high school, paid for through these funds.

   Healthcare insurance costs rise 25 percent in the new budget, but those figures are still 25 percent lower than what Arcadia paid in the 2009 budget year. Mull also noted that Arcadia isn’t quite feeling the bite other municipalities are in increased contributions to the state employee-retirement system. “We’ve been adding money to that account all along,” she said.