New budget doesn’t fund three police positions, but produces tax rate like two years ago

by Dan McClelland

The tax rate that Tupper Lake village taxpayers are looking at when they get their tax bills next month is about the same one they were looking at this time two years ago.

That’s because the board, at various workshops in recent weeks cut about $190,000 in projected spending for next year.

A new smaller budget was adopted by the village board at a special meeting last Monday.

In the proposed budget the board has been reviewing in recent weeks, total spending for next year was forecast at $3.395 million- which was a spending decrease over the current year of 0.17% or $5,841.

After an expected fund balance of $100,000 and projected revenues in the new village year beginning in June of $1.049 million, a tax levy (amount paid by village taxpayers collectively) of $2.346 million was in prospect. That levy projected was up by 4.57% or $49,189 over the village’s allowable state tax cap of $2.296 million.

In the proposed budget before the cuts in recent weeks a tax rate of $16.459 per $1,000 of assessed valuation of property was in view.

Since early April when the draft budget was released to the board by Treasurer Mary Casagrain there have been cuts- the most significant of them in the $1.3 million proposed budget of the Tupper Lake Village Police Department.

In the proposed budget of Chief Eric Proulx were $647,639 in salaries for the chief, three sergeants and four uniformed officers. Also included were about $155,000 in salaries for replacements for Officer Mike Vaillancourt, who retired this year and Officers Brandon Duchaine and Kris Clark, who resigned their positions this past year.

Because the department can’t find officers to replace them, the village leaders removed $190,100 from the final budget, which included the $154,500 in salaries, $1,600 in the clothing allowances for the three, and $34,000 for social security payments and hospital and medical benefits for those positions.

Another major adjustment- this time on the revenue side of the plan- was an increase of $20,000 in new revenue from the increased price of garbage stickers in the new year (See related story this week).

So in the final plan total spending that funds the police, fire, public works and office departments in the village’s general fund spending was cut to $3.2 million- down by 5.75% or $195,941. It produced a new tax levy of $2.136 million which is under the allowable state tax cap by 4.79% or by $160,919.

The final budget forecasts a tax rate of $14.98 per $1,000- down by 79 cents per $1,000 below the current tax rate and only a penny per $1,000 assessed valuation over the rate in 2021-22 budget two years ago.

At a special meeting last Monday, the board began by rescinding the motion it made in recent weeks and dispensed with the local law which would have permitted it to override the state-mandated tax cap.

“No matter what we do with the budget tonight, we are now under the tax cap, so we need to rescind the tax cap override we passed earlier,” Mayor Paul Maroun said calling for a motion to rescind it.

“We do it every year once we know we’re under the cap!”

Trustees Eric Shaheen and David Maroun made that motion and it passed unanimously.

At one point in the meeting the board adjourned briefly to executive session to consider a budget-related personnel matter.

In advance of going into private deliberations, Trustee Eric Shaheen said the main reason the budget was decreasing and would be under the tax cap is that the three vacant police positions were not included in the budget spending forecast.

“If there were police officers we could hire, we’d be in a different situation right now. If we could have filled those positions, it wouldn’t have been an easy budget year. We would have been well over the tax cap!” Mr. Shaheen stressed.

“Following up on what Eric said, it’s not our fault” we couldn’t find police officer candidates to fill those positions, stated Mayor Maroun. “We tried to find candidates to hire.”

Responding to some of the comments he’s read on social meeting, Trustee Shaheen stated: “We did not choose to do 12-hour shifts” and reduce police coverage here to one shift per day. “There is no one out there to hire...nobody.”

He said when the New York State Police can’t hire enough troopers, the state prison system cannot hire enough correctional officers, “it’s 100% out of the village board’s control” to find police officers.

“We can’t pull people out of the air!”

The Free Press publisher asked the board about its canvassing and recruitment efforts around the state and region, other than just canvassing off county civil service roles.

“The chief did,” Mayor Maroun assured him. Chief Proulx apparently made many calls to other departments around the state looking for officers to hire here.

“Look at corrections,” noted Trustee “Haji” Maroun, himself a state correctional officer. “They got rid of the test- and I don’t know how they did it with civil service rules. But it’s application-only now when people apply to be correctional officers.”

Mr. Shaheen said the state police have also dramatically lessened their once strict hiring requirements. “The state police cannot find people to become troopers!”

Mr. Shaheen claimed that New York State’s poorly thought out bail reform laws introduced by former Governor Cuomo is one of the roots of the problems that young people don’t want to become police officers today. “It has crucified police officers in this state. No one wants to become a police officer. Until bail reform is changed, you won’t see a difference!” he insisted.

Trustee Leon LeBlanc made it very clear that evening that he didn’t like the decision the board made to not fund those three police positions this year. “We made it very clear to Eric (Chief Proulx) that if he comes up with someone or several people to hire six months from now, we’ll find the money some where to hire them!”

“Yes, we will,” asserted Trustee Shaheen.

“The majority of the problem with crime” in this town and in this state is the bail reform laws. “You can have 150 police officers in your town but there will still be crime, because for law-breakers there are no repercussions for any crime you do now!”

“Criminals now get arrested and then released on their own recognizance” to appear in court months later, Trustee Shaheen asserted.

“Most times no one in this state goes to jail now,” added Trustee Maroun.