The Press Republican - Ti gets 2.5 percent tax hike

TICONDEROGA — Taxpayers in Ticonderoga will see a tax-levy increase of just 2.5 percent if the town's tentative 2010 budget is approved.

That's mostly because Essex County is sharing one-quarter percent of its sales-tax revenue with towns next year, Town Supervisor Robert C. Dedrick said.

"It's a good budget. Without that sales-tax sharing, we'd be looking at huge decreases somewhere."

The town will receive about $160,000 from the county in sales-tax sharing.

The proposed town budget totals $4.94 million without special-district appropriations, from $4.85 million this year.

The tax levy, which is the amount raised by taxes, will be $3.8 million, a 2-percent increase from the current $3.7 million.

The public hearing is at 5 tonight at the Ticonderoga Community Building.

The tax rate in Ticonderoga, including the Ticonderoga Fire District, would be about $9.56 per $1,000 of assessment; it was $9.38 before. In the Chilson Fire District, the tax rate will be $10.14, up from $9.89 previously.

Fire district budgets are set by a Board of Fire Commissioners and submitted for inclusion in the town budget.

Non-union town employees, including elected officials, will get 3-percent pay raises. By union contract, other workers will receive pay increases of 1⅛ to 3.5 percent. Sewer and Water Department employees will get three-quarter-percent pay hikes.

The cost of health insurance went up 8 percent, Dedrick said. He said the town's State Retirement Fund contribution was up $40,000.

The town lost about $75,000 in mortgage-tax receipts from last year, he said.

The town restored its summer youth program at a cost of $75,000, with $25,000 of that reimbursed by the state.

Next year's youth program will be tuition-fee-based, using the free and reduced-price lunch program schedule that schools use. That means the cost will vary from free to $12.50 or $25 a week. The tuition fees are expected to generate about $16,000.

Annual water and sewer rates will stay at $420 a year for sewer and go from $322 to $328 for water.

The town tax base increased by about $1.6 million, with 20 percent of land in the town classified as tax-exempt.

"We've tried to balance needs of taxpayers with quality-of-life issues in this budget," Dedrick said.

Taxes up and up. The town employees' raises are more than Senior Citizens are receiving in their Social Security checks - NOTHING. Folks, the budget for the Ticonderoga Police Department is hugging $800,000.00. As taxpayers, we must consider abolishing that department and let the Essex Cty Sheriffs/NYS troopers police our VIOLENT TOWN. They are in our town anyway all the time. We just can not afford this police department. Constructive thoughts, please??

oh dear me wrote:

Taxes up and up. The town employees' raises are more than Senior Citizens are receiving in their Social Security checks - NOTHING. Folks, the budget for the Ticonderoga Police Department is hugging $800,000.00. As taxpayers, we must consider abolishing that department and let the Essex Cty Sheriffs/NYS troopers police our VIOLENT TOWN. They are in our town anyway all the time. We just can not afford this police department. Constructive thoughts, please??

why does having a police dept cost so much?? high wages? what?

2.5% is a gift from God. Thank you elected officials for doing a great job and keeping the tax incrfease to 2.5% where most places including NYS are facing huge cuts in services and tax hikes. I would like to know how they did it with reduced revenue and such a small increase. Awesome job folks.

And for people who do not want a local police force why dont we just tax the people who do want services and then just not respond to those emergencies which involve those who havent paid or refuse to pay for their local police force.

Citizen X, it is unfortunately attitudes like yours that gives government a blank check mentality. So, I assume you are a government employee, or the spouse of one. For us, taxpayers - and not tax recipients, we are not receiving a 3% increase in our salary. A 2.5% increase is still an increase last time I checked, and I think in these trying economic times, I would expect nothing less than a 2.5% DECREASE in government spending!

I do think we should cut back spending, I am in my home. Heat will be cut back this year, entertainment budget is cut back this year, Christmas is cut back this year. What are our local government officials planning to cut back?? Why should the working person (or retiree) suffer and government continues to live high on the hog?

oh dear me wrote:

Taxes up and up. The town employees' raises are more than Senior Citizens are receiving in their Social Security checks - NOTHING. Folks, the budget for the Ticonderoga Police Department is hugging $800,000.00. As taxpayers, we must consider abolishing that department and let the Essex Cty Sheriffs/NYS troopers police our VIOLENT TOWN. They are in our town anyway all the time. We just can not afford this police department. Constructive thoughts, please??

We cannot afford NOT to have this department! Can you imagine the crime rate without a local Police force. Essex County Sheriff cannot handle the amount of calls nor can the State Police. The SP allready said they will NOT be the lead agency for Ticonderoga. Many Businesses locate here because of the services we offer. Including Police. You are correct that you are entitled to your opinion; as am I. I will not support any politician that desires this! EVER. My kids are safe, and so are you and I.

Wake Up wrote:

Citizen X, it is unfortunately attitudes like yours that gives government a blank check mentality. So, I assume you are a government employee, or the spouse of one. For us, taxpayers - and not tax recipients, we are not receiving a 3% increase in our salary. A 2.5% increase is still an increase last time I checked, and I think in these trying economic times, I would expect nothing less than a 2.5% DECREASE in government spending!
I do think we should cut back spending, I am in my home. Heat will be cut back this year, entertainment budget is cut back this year, Christmas is cut back this year. What are our local government officials planning to cut back?? Why should the working person (or retiree) suffer and government continues to live high on the hog?

I don't think they are asking for a blank check, we have these services and don't realize how much any of our services provide to us. I think if you knew you would have a different opinion. I personally don't think raises are in order given the current financial situation. Especially for the board members. Again My opinion only. I'd like them to post this info.(number of calls and type of calls, and how much revenue was generated from tickets etc.

Paul LaRock wrote:

<quoted text>
We cannot afford NOT to have this department! Can you imagine the crime rate without a local Police force. Essex County Sheriff cannot handle the amount of calls nor can the State Police. The SP allready said they will NOT be the lead agency for Ticonderoga. Many Businesses locate here because of the services we offer. Including Police. You are correct that you are entitled to your opinion; as am I. I will not support any politician that desires this! EVER. My kids are safe, and so are you and I.

If we had elected a DIFFERENT SHERIFF he told me it would be workable to have an Essex Cty. Sheriff's substation in Ticonderoga and abolish this police department. A referendum at the next election, give the voters the opportunity to vote and get rid of them. What a joke, your kids and you and us are SAFE because of this police department. These Essex Cty. Sheriff's are supposed to do road patrol; but do not. Don't try to tell me, Mr. LaRock, that the sheriffs stationed here and the state police couldn't keep this town SAFE FROM THE HORRIFIC CRIME TOWN IT IS. Most of their calls are domestic anyway. Just how much crime do we have in Ticonderoga? We can not afford $800,000.00 for a police force in this town. How many felonies committed in Ticonderoga, murder, rape, armed robbery, arson, manslaughter, homicide and so on,(name the cases you are aware of) Traffic tickets and domestic calls TI PD make are not worth $800,000.00, not in my budget.

If the money did not go to the police force, then the town would just find some where else to pi** it away. We as tax payers would not see a decrease in our taxes.Like everything else in life, once it goes up it will stay that way.

oh dear me wrote:

Taxes up and up. The town employees' raises are more than Senior Citizens are receiving in their Social Security checks - NOTHING. Folks, the budget for the Ticonderoga Police Department is hugging $800,000.00. As taxpayers, we must consider abolishing that department and let the Essex Cty Sheriffs/NYS troopers police our VIOLENT TOWN. They are in our town anyway all the time. We just can not afford this police department. Constructive thoughts, please??

Do you think the rest of the taxpayers in the county are going to think it is ok to have a substation just in Ticonderoga. Do you thing people in Crown Point, Moriah, Willsboro, etc, should pay taxes for a substation to be in Ticonderoga? We would still have to foot the bill for Sheriff's in Ticonderoga, we would not be saving anything. In fact it may cost more because county benefits are better than local benefits.

This isn't about the police vs. the sheriff's dept. This discussion should be about a 2.5% tax levy increase that is lower than the actual increase because we are being given back some of the county sales tax income. So, what is the actual budget increase? And why? What departments are demanding more money? What costs are going up? Salaries? Insurances? Heat?

My heat to set to 65, my salary is not going up, I can't afford insurance and I work more than 40 hours a week. I pay taxes, and I want a government that really feels the significance of the failed economy.

For those that wanted to make it about the police department... this is for you. People stated that businesses are rushing to Ticonderoga because of the services we provide. Drive down Montcalm Street. What do you see? A dying downtown similar to the scene we've seen over the past 20 years. Do you see police foot patrols, as promised? I don't. Do you see the police stopping loitering (the arcade is essentially closed yet kids still hang outside of the place)? I don't. So, what are they doing for local businesses? I know that a lot of the police officers post on Topix. Perhaps one of them can explain it to me. How do they benefit this huge business boom Ticonderoga is apparently seeing?

abolishthem wrote:

<quoted text>
If we had elected a DIFFERENT SHERIFF he told me it would be workable to have an Essex Cty. Sheriff's substation in Ticonderoga and abolish this police department. A referendum at the next election, give the voters the opportunity to vote and get rid of them. What a joke, your kids and you and us are SAFE because of this police department. These Essex Cty. Sheriff's are supposed to do road patrol; but do not. Don't try to tell me, Mr. LaRock, that the sheriffs stationed here and the state police couldn't keep this town SAFE FROM THE HORRIFIC CRIME TOWN IT IS. Most of their calls are domestic anyway. Just how much crime do we have in Ticonderoga? We can not afford $800,000.00 for a police force in this town. How many felonies committed in Ticonderoga, murder, rape, armed robbery, arson, manslaughter, homicide and so on,(name the cases you are aware of) Traffic tickets and domestic calls TI PD make are not worth $800,000.00, not in my budget.

You will have to pay for the services anyway. Do you really think that essex county is just going to move them in without charging us? They will have to train officers, pay them and provide upkeep for the vehicle, station. etc. And for you info we have had all of the above happen here in Ti. Not every day but, they have happened. I kind of like the feeling that we have some control over what that department does and how they operate. Bottom Line is this...You will not convince me that getting rid of the local police dept. is a good idea. I don't care if it costs a million per year!

you need to look at what is spent on the parks! we pay big time to have everything look pretty!! too bad the roads are so bad to get to them!!

First of all just because you don't hear it on the scanner or read about it in the paper doesn't mean that there isn't horrific things happening in this town. Paul is right whether it be our own department or the county or the state you will NEVER get those services for nothing. There is a presence of other departments here because at times investigations to crimes outside of Ti bring leads that include people in Ti. It is called follow-up. It is also a safety feature for the officeres here. Not one more man or woman should have to die at the hands of and out of control individual because of lack of man power and adequate coverage. Sometimes decisions are made by those in charge you may not understand but I personally place no dollar amount of the lives of those who protect me everyday. What I will say is THANK YOU for your service and thank you to your families for tolerating your absence at Holidays, special events, anniversaries and all those times we take for granted. God Speed to all of you in law enforcement!

abolishthem wrote:

<quoted text>
If we had elected a DIFFERENT SHERIFF he told me it would be workable to have an Essex Cty. Sheriff's substation in Ticonderoga and abolish this police department. A referendum at the next election, give the voters the opportunity to vote and get rid of them. What a joke, your kids and you and us are SAFE because of this police department. These Essex Cty. Sheriff's are supposed to do road patrol; but do not. Don't try to tell me, Mr. LaRock, that the sheriffs stationed here and the state police couldn't keep this town SAFE FROM THE HORRIFIC CRIME TOWN IT IS. Most of their calls are domestic anyway. Just how much crime do we have in Ticonderoga? We can not afford $800,000.00 for a police force in this town. How many felonies committed in Ticonderoga, murder, rape, armed robbery, arson, manslaughter, homicide and so on,(name the cases you are aware of) Traffic tickets and domestic calls TI PD make are not worth $800,000.00, not in my budget.

The TI PD is the reason why we DON'T!! Have those kind of problems. It's a respectable well molded police department. They are a good team down there and I think they are worth every penny. Look at how well they (along with the fire dept) handled the missing little boy a month ago.... They had a plan already in place for just such an event. The professionalism in their repsonse was priceless.$800,000.00 reflects alot of things..we are all paying more for everything in this economy. They pay more just like we do. It's the nature of the beast.

Lets compare. What is the PD budget in Lake Placid? Moriah? E-Town? When you find out, then tell me we NEED the local PD. It's a bottomless money pit. Anything more tragic than a fender bender and the state gets called in anyway.
Another budget that is recently out of control is the Ti highway. But thats another can of worms.........

2.5% is a modest increase. The problem is when you take this modest increase, the school districts modest increase, the counties, ect. it all adds up. To say the police, school, town or whatever are not worth the money won't help address the real problem. The taxpayers are going to run out of the money to keep paying these modest increases. If these departments could really look within and try to find ways to save like it's coming out of their personnel finances, then maybe we would see 0% increases. Attacking them won't help. They can see businesses around them failing and it does not phase them. Their incomes are all but set in stone by taxpayers. We must educate them. Are we willing to attend meetings, try to influence those that vote on these decisions. God knows we better try.

Get a grip on reality. You complain of a 2.5% increase in taxes, but you want to know why? Maybe you should get involved in the workings of your local government. Then you'll know why they are requesting a 2.5% increase. So often we sit back and complain of increasing taxes but we don't get involved or dig into the workings of the government. If you aren't informed then you shouldn't comment. If you get involved and still don't like the tax increase then you can complain. towns require money to operate, unfortunately infrastructure costs increase and we the taxpayer has to incur those increasing costs. The money to operate has to come from somewhere. For all of you who complain about the increase and want them to lower taxes, I sugest you plant a money tree in your back yard. You should be able to purchase one from the money fairy next time he/she comes through town.

NO WAY wrote:

Lets compare. What is the PD budget in Lake Placid? Moriah? E-Town? When you find out, then tell me we NEED the local PD. It's a bottomless money pit. Anything more tragic than a fender bender and the state gets called in anyway.
Another budget that is recently out of control is the Ti highway. But thats another can of worms.........

You can't compare Ticonderoga to Moriah... Thats like comparing Plattsburg to Westport. "We don't need a police department" "bottomless money pit"???? You don't have a clue... You don't have the intelligence or the imagination to even begin to speculate on what Ticonderoga would be like with out the police department. People like you throw darts at a board. People like you have no forward vision. Ticonderoga is growing. With time property values will grow with it. The police department and fire department and rescue squad in this town all play a part in that growth. Insurance rates, Crime rates, Survival rates....all attract...seems like your idea only detract...I don't know what your reasons are for your post but...I disagree

Evening, I think there are two different groups posting here. Those who have enough money to pay "only" a 2.5% increase, and those who don't. I have enough, 2.5 sounds good to me. My mother does not. She spends winter in Vermont with my sister, she can not afford the heating costs. I don't think these two groups will convince each other of anything, one group is in a comfy boat, and the other is drowning..-Max