It seems to be feast or famine for area taxpayers lately. The city of Oneonta was recently warned by an auditor that it should wean itself off its reserve funds to balance its budget.
"At some point, the piper will need to be paid," Will Reynolds of the auditing firm Bollam, Sheedy, Torani & Co. said.
Meanwhile, taxpayers in the town of Otsego may have given the taxman more than his due, resulting in a budget surplus of about $2 million. Town Supervisor Thomas Breiten said continued overestimation of expenses and underestimation of revenues have resulted in the surplus.
Neither situation is ideal. In a perfect world, budgets would equal out so there's just enough money to go around.
Of course, we don't live in an ideal world. Whether it's government, the private sector or nonprofits, we know budgeting is an inexact science, and that real life has a way of interfering with the best-laid plans.
That said, it's clear that these municipalities have some hard thinking to do about their budget process.
The town of Otsego has already taken steps to let taxpayers benefit from the surplus, reducing its tax levy for 2010 by more than $275,000. Breiten also discussed possible uses for the funds, including a storage building, an elevator-loader and some technology upgrades for the town office.
But Breiten, and some town residents who spoke at a recent meeting, are not in a rush to spend the surplus.
"Just because we have the money doesn't mean we have to think up ways to spend it," Breiten said.
While we agree with this statement, we do hope that the taxpayers who contributed to the surplus will be able to enjoy some material benefits from it, rather than seeing their tax dollars sit idle.
The way forward for Oneonta is filled with daunting possibilities, such as higher taxes or job cuts. While Mayor John Nader said he did not anticipate any layoffs, the alternatives are no more appealing.
Second Ward Alderman Paul Robinson, chairman of the Finance Committee, said he expected to have "a tough meeting" Friday.
We agree with Reynolds that the city would be wise to seek alternatives to draining its reserves. While no one wants to see their taxes go up, we acknowledge that a small increase may be necessary to keep the city coffers adequately filled.
It's our hope that any such increase would be accompanied by continuing efforts on the city's part to find greater efficiencies that might help cut costs.
