Village of Owego dodges 23% tax hike — adopts 3.87% increase

Contributed by Matt Freeze, Sayre Morning Times

Property taxes in the Village of Owego will be going up 3.87% following a Monday public hearing with no residents in attendance.

The proposed village tax rate per thousand dollars of assessed value will be $20.98, up 78 cents from last year.

In total, the village budget comes in at nearly 8% higher than last year — $4,312,521.

Originally, the village was looking at a 23.66% tax increase, but Mayor Mike Baratta said they were able to find additional revenue streams, including grants that helped cut into the initially planned tax hike.

Additionally, there was an initial miscalculation on expected sales tax revenue.

Trustee Rusty Fuller said that the Owego Police Department had anticipated hiring additional part-time officers, but that plan had since changed, reducing the department’s expenses considerably.

Village officials are anticipating a 24.88% increase in EMS revenue to balance a 23.65% increase in EMS expenses.

Baratta said the revenue should be consistently in line with expenses since they are now charging for service, and he and trustees will have to work with EMS officials going forward to keep them more closely linked.

Village budget documents indicate officials are expecting a 33.5% increase in sales tax receipts in the coming year.

Additional revenue increases are seen in the lines for earned interest, clerk and police fees, as well as building permit fees.

The second largest expected revenue increase is in CHIPS (Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program) funding, which is up by 31% to $281,491.

The village Department of Public Works budget includes a 3.56% increase to $1.9 million.