2007-2008 VILLAGE BUDGET

The budgets for all Village departments for the 2007-08 fiscal year have been thoroughly reviewed by the Village Board.  They have been placed on file and are available for public review at the Village of Arcade office, 17 Church Street, Arcade.

The  Water Fund is balanced at $612,800 and does not require a rate increase.

The  Sewer Fund is balanced at $508,188 and does not require a rate increase.

The  Electric Fund is balanced at $7,300,699 and does not require a rate increase

The  General Fund is balanced at $2,267,604.
* There is a 2.69% tax rate increase for Village property this year, resulting in an assessed rate of $13.55 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation.
 * The budget includes a $0.25 increase per tag for the garbage collection fees.

Comments regarding the General Fund Budget:

The General Fund covers costs and revenues associated with the Streets and Park Department, Recreation and Civic Celebrations, Police, Village Justice, Arcade Fire Department and Rescue Squad, as well as the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.  It also covers approximately 25% of the costs associated with the Village Board and Village Office. 

1) The tax rate increase of 2.69% required for this year’s Budget is close to the various inflation rates published by the Federal Government over the last year. These have been recorded as being between 2.4% and 4.1%.

2) The garbage tag cost increase is needed to offset the increased costs for the contract with Waste Management.  This cost has risen by $12,000 over the last 2 years.  The alternative to this fee increase would have been to have a further increase in property taxes of about 1%.  This would unfairly add costs solely to property owners, when the service is used by both property owners and tenants and is based on the amount of waste each generates and sets out for disposal.  

To completely eliminate the tag fee, property taxes would have to be raised by over 6%.   The Board elected not to take this action due to the inherent unfairness in asking property owners to subsidize waste disposal for all Village residents.

3) 2007 will mark the completion of the flood retention pond located off Park St, just south of the cemetery.   Seventy-five percent of the cost of the project is paid for by a grant while the local share is derived from tax revenue and does not obligate future taxpayers to any debt.  When this project is complete, we will need to move on and consider other flood control projects included in our Village’s All Hazard plan.   The list of alternatives includes a second control pond on the east side of Park St. or projects associated with Clear and Cattaraugus Creeks.

4) We have budgeted for significant sidewalk and roadway repairs. There is funding to complete all sidewalk repairs for existing complaints.  We will also replace major sections of sidewalk on upper Church St. and on Liberty St. from the old fire hall to Mill St.  

Our 5 year plan process has identified additional sidewalk replacements needs that will cost in excess of $100,000. Costs in that large an amount requires the work to be spread several years while staying current on repair complaints.  We will continue to target and budget for major sections each year, and if any sidewalk grants can be obtained we will use those to expedite the work.

6) Various street resurfacing projects will affect as many as 11 Village streets, including North, Park, Mill, Sherman, and Grove.

7) At the Village park, a new restroom will be constructed on the east end and a new basketball court will be installed. The costs for these projects are provided by a Members Appropriation Grant obtained by State Senator Volker and will not require any Village matching funds.  There will be zero cost to residents for these improvements.

8) The Village is investigating a major refurbishment of the Hockey rink at the park, and to construct a skate boarding park.  However, these projects will require funding from either grants or donations to make them feasible this year.  If the money cannot be acquired, both projects will be postponed to future years. 

9) In accordance with the 5 year capital plan, the following equipment purchases have been budgeted within the General Fund:  first is a new dump truck for plowing.  It will be sized to make maneuvering easier in confined spaces such as the Village parking lot on the east side of the Grey Fox Restaurant. Also included in the budget for the Fire Department is a new rescue pumper to replace the current box van. This purchase will use an amount of reserves previously set aside, but like most major Fire truck purchases will also require bond proceeds to spread the cost over several years.  In the police department, the plan is to replace the SUV with a new similar vehicle.  

10) The Village Justice, Youth Summer Recreation Program and Senior programs are all supported in this year’s budget.

11) The Fire and Rescue Squad budget is funded at over $100k outside of equipment acquisitions.   Roughly two thirds of this cost is paid for by revenues received from the Towns of Arcade and Freedom.  

12) The Arcadia Heights development on Cramer Drive and North Street has successfully completed its annexation proceedings with both the Village and Town Boards having approved annexation of property into the Village. The project developer is obtaining all Planning Board inputs and approvals to get the final details of the project approved.  Construction is forecast to begin later this year. This project is a vital project as it adds homes to the Village and broadens our tax base.

13) Also noteworthy is that the State has authorized the establishment of Empire Zones in Wyoming County. At a special meeting to be held on April 17^th, we expect to hear details on how the Empire Zones will impact the Village.  These zones will be beneficial to businesses, but will also protect Village revenues.

14) This year our Village departments will be addressing innovative ways to best control total equipment acquisition and maintenance costs. We will use the low State bid acquisition price of vehicles and we will carefully monitor trade in values. We expect that if we resell and replace equipment at the proper time and price that we will offset the cost of purchasing the next piece of equipment before excessive maintenance costs occur.   We will monitor this approach carefully to make sure we get the anticipated savings. 

Comments regarding the Water Fund:

1) This year the department will complete the replacement of the main water line along Liberty Street.  These lines are some of the oldest in the Village, nearly 70 years old.  The replacements should ensure long term reliability of this section of the Village water supply lines.  

2) Time and funding has also been set aside for routine maintenance of the wells, springs and water towers and includes items such as meter change outs, exercising main line valves, and the flushing, maintenance, and replacement (where necessary) of fire hydrants.

3) The Water department is budgeted to obtain a new panel truck which will be part of the new equipment purchase strategy for cost reduction.  

Comments regarding the Sewer Fund:

1) The budget funds the normal day to day operations of the sewer system and the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Resources have been allocated for various replacement and repair projects. Repair of the driveway at the Treatment Plant is the major item scheduled this year

2) The sludge composting operation has been in operation nearly two years and has proven to eliminate the need for and costs associated with hauling sludge to an offsite waste landfill for disposal.  

3) No major equipment replacement purchases are needed in this department this year. 

4) We will continue to monitor progress and act to protect the rights of Village residents in regards to water and sewer extensions proposed for new Business developments outside the Village.  The most significant of these are the Industrial Park proposal located on Rt. 98 North of the Village and a second one located in the southern corner of Erie County in Chaffee.  We will consider how such projects will impact the capacity of our systems and ensure the costs are properly charged to the new users.  

Comments regarding the Electric Fund:

1) The major project for the Electric Fund is the work associated with the Noble Wind Farms project. The Village has signed a contract to provide Transmission Services to Noble for their Town of Eagle project. In return for transmitting their electric across our system we will receive a payment of $345,000 per year for each of the next twenty years, for a total of $6.9 million.  By law this revenue will go entirely to the Electric Utility.  While it won’t help with the General tax rate, this revenue should help to hold down future electric rate increases while providing cash to fund expensive refurbishments to our decades old system.

This year we will complete the Freedom substation modifications that will allow the hook up with Noble. This work and all project costs will be paid for totally by Noble and does not add costs to the Electric system.

We anticipate the Noble project to begin generating electricity this year.  The first payment from Noble to the Village of $345,000 has been included in the budget as revenue.  Given the chance that the full project will not come live this year we have allocated expenditures associated with this revenue to go either in to an emergency cash fund, a capital equipment and repair reserve or 10% of the payment to be used for the variable costs associated with supporting the project. If the project is delayed, these expenditures will cease and there will be no impact to the Village.

2) Noble continues development work on additional projects in Farmersville and Freedom that will provide additional opportunity for the Village, and potentially could require a second transmission line through the Village.    

3) Other expenditures in the Electric department include the normal maintenance replacement costs for metering equipment, poles, wire, transformers, and the miscellaneous line materials that will be needed throughout the year.

4) The Electric Department vehicle replacement program will resume after 3 years of limited purchases.  We plan to obtain one new bucket truck and 2 pickup trucks for the department.  

In Summary, the Village of Arcade will continue to provide services to residents as it has in the past.  Emergency services remain intact, youth, and senior activities have been funded, streets, sidewalks and our Utility systems continue to be maintained. The activity associated with our Noble Wind Farm’s contract has been planned. All utility rates remain as is with no increase and the property tax increase has been kept below 2.7%.