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Fredonia budget passes with no tax increase

OBSERVER Photo by Jimmy McCarthy Trustee Roger Britz Jr. discusses the work that went into the budget during Monday’s regular board meeting. The $10.1 million budget passed unanimously.

Fredonia trustees passed a $10.1 million budget Monday evening — one that details no increase in the property tax rate.

With the mayor’s $10.4 million budget proposal in hand, the village board through various budget meetings managed to trim just over $330,000 from an operating deficit in the general fund of around $835,400.

Mayor Athanasia Landis said while she gave trustees a budget that was going into the fund balance by $800,000, she started with a budget that was close to a $2 million deficit.

“I cut a lot of money before giving it to them,” she said. “My hope is that we’re going to focus on ways to raise revenue instead of ways of cutting.”

“That’s inevitable as well, but raising revenue (and) saving money by being effective and being efficient with what we do is the most important thing,” Landis added.

The property tax rate will remain at $35.19 per $1,000 assessed value for the 2018-19 fiscal year. The vote was 4-0 Monday with Trustee Kara Christina absent due to illness.

Trustee Doug Essek said an option to balance the budget was utilizing $835,444 of the $977,596 available within the unreserved fund balance. With cuts made by the board, Essek said the current fund balance is at a level that can assist in funding unexpected expenses.

As for the $300,000-plus cut from the budget proposal, Essek called it a “substantial and respectable reduction.”

“I hope the budget changes will best serve Fredonia. This board is now challenged to increase revenue sources to help fund future expenses,” he said.

Trustee James Lynden said the board worked hard and together on the budget. Lynden noted that while departments needed a lot of attention, the village didn’t see an increase in state funding through AIM, which is per capita funding.

“We have a lot more to do in the future years, but I think we did a great job on the work on this budget,” he said. “It’s amazing what a small community with a very small amount of funding can do compared to others. We worked very hard to supply the services that a community like ours deserves. I wish the state would pay a little more attention to that.”

In terms of personnel, the budget allowed for a few additions such as a clerk/typist in the code enforcement office and a part-time firefighter. While Landis acknowledged she’s happy with the additions, she said she’d very much like to have another police officer in order to assign one to the county Drug Task Force. Landis said she hopes she can do that next year.

“We have a drug problem in the village. We cannot be oblivious to that,” she said. “However, the budget is what it is. It didn’t allow us this year to do it.”

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