By Tom Grace
COOPERSTOWN _ Under Otsego County's 2010 budget, adopted Wednesday, the amount the county needs to collect in taxes, called the tax levy, will rise in all but three municipalities "" Exeter, Burlington and Unadilla, according to preliminary estimates.
For the entire county, the levy will rise by about 7.2 percent, an outcome the county Board of Representatives strove to minimize this fall as it struggled with rising expenses
and declining sales tax revenue.
``We hate to raise taxes, but we were hit with a perfect storm this year,'' Rep. Greg Relic, R-Unadilla, said Wednesday night. ``The recession hurt our sales tax revenue, the state increased what we have to pay for employees' retirement, and we settled a labor contract, which means we'll be paying more in salaries.''
Final budget numbers were unavailable Thursday as the figures were still being checked, but preliminary data indicates the county levy will range from an increase of 19.98 percent in Middlefield to a decrease of 5.2 percent in Exeter.
The county levy includes money raised for the county budget, as well as funds to pay for workers compensation claims, consolidated health districts, refunded taxes, uncollectible taxes, election expenses and tax roll expenses.
According to Peter Galarneau, the county's real property tax director, differences in tax adjustments among municipalities are usually caused by diverse equilization rates, although other charges in the county levy can affect the bills.
The tax bills coming next month will include town, as well as county taxes, except in the city of Oneonta, which has its own tax schedule. Town taxes vary, so the total that each property owner must pay will reflect more than just what the county requires.
Tax rates are based on assessed values of $1,000, and each town has its own county tax rate.
In the city of Oneonta, the county tax rate for 2009 was 4.1887. With that tax rate, a property assessed at $50,000 would have generated a tax bill of $209.44.
For 2010, the county tax rate for the city of Oneonta is estimated at 4.4947, so the county bill for property assessed at $50,000 is likely to be about $224.74, an increase of about $15.30.
Usin g this same formula for the town of Middlefield, where the levy is slated to rise sharpest, taxes on a property assessed at $50,000 would rise about $30.63, from $162.47 to $193.10.
In Exeter, where preliminary numbers show the greatest decrease in the county levy, taxes on a property assessed at $50,000 would decrease by $12.07, from $245.25 this year to $233.18 in 2010.
Preliminary numbers showing the percentage change from 2009 to 2010 in the county levy are: Oneonta City, up 7.57 percent; Burlington, down .55 percent; Butternuts, up 15.88 percent; Cherry Valley, up 15.63 percent; Decatur, up 9.80 percent; Edmeston, up 9.79 percent; Exeter, down 5.20 percent; Hartwick, up 1.37 percent; Laurens, up .58 percent; Maryland, up 6.00 percent; Middlefield, up 19.98 percent; Milford, up 2.65 percent; Morris, up 13.26 percent; New Lisbon, up 11.84 percent; Oneonta town, up 15.70 percent; Otego, up 13.17 percent; Otsego, up 1.78 percent; Pittsfield, up 1.16 percent; Plainfield, up 7.92 percent; Richfield, up 4.84 percent; Roseboom, up 12.17 percent; Springfield, up 7.45 percent; Unadilla, down .97 percent; Westford, up17.63 percent; Worcester, up 6.94 percent.
