CHEEKTOWAGA
Cheektowaga budget hikes spending by 4 percent
The $81.7 million Cheektowaga budget for next year, which includes a 4 percent increase in spending, passed unanimously Monday without comment from the public or from the Town Board.
It will require a tax increase of 2.55 percent for some, almost the same as the 2.51 percent increase for some districts in this year’s budget.
The town spending plan for 2010 includes no raises, a $3 million hike in pension and health insurance costs, and the first $200,000 payment on a proposed $15 million addition to the police and court building.
“We’ve not really funded any new initiatives,” Council Member Jeff Swiatek said shortly before Monday night’s meeting.
The state pension system has lost so much money in investment revenue that the town is obliged to contribute more, he said. For example, Cheektowaga used to make a $4,000 annual contribution for a town employee making $50,000. The new obligation is $6,000. If state employee pension funds continue to do poorly, contribution demands will continue to rise in the years ahead.
“We’re praying for a dramatic recovery of the stock market,” Swiatek said of the budget that contains $800,000 in municipal cuts — not enough to offset the increased pension and health insurance costs:
• Retirement costs went from $3.7 million this year to $5.1 million in 2010.
• Health insurance went from $10.7 million this year to $12.5 million in 2010.
While the Town Board has yet to vote on the $15 million court and police addition and the bond issue the project will require, Swiatek expects the board to begin to focus on that now that the budget has been adopted.
“If the economic challenges persist, we’re going to have to start talking more directly about . . . service reductions,” he said. “Our taxpayers are being stretched very thinly.”
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