$15 Minimum Wage Will Hurt Town of Saugerties

County Executive Mike Hein is advocating for a $15 minimum wage for New York State.

Hein is attacking the City of Kingston and towns for not lowering property taxes after the county assumed Safety Net and elections costs.  While he may have a point in this regard, a $15 minimum wage would have a devastating impact on local governments.

For the Town of Saugerties, I estimate the impact of a $15 minimum wage to be well over $100,000.  I do not have numbers for the Summer Recreation Program, but a higher minimum wage will add to the already large annual deficit this program runs.

A higher minimum wage will make it virtually impossible for the town will stay within the tax cap and likely force the town to layoff many part-time/seasonal workers.

It's the height of hypocrisy for Hein to be calling on local governments to spend less while at the same time he's pushing for a massive unfunded mandate to be pushed down their throats!!!

Mike Hein Contributors from Saugerties

List of Saugerties residents contributing more than $150 to Ulster County Exec Mike Hein's reelection campaign (source: NYS Board of Elections):

• Tom Stuzzeri - $2,000
• Steven Thornton - $750
• Sawyer Chevrolet - $500
• Jack Lane - $300
• Greg Helsmoortel - $290
• Mary Tasjian - $250
• Sawyer Motors - $250
• Maynard, O'Connor, Smith & Catalinotto - $190
• Jamie Capuano - $190

Town Government Comparison - Part 2

Percentage of Budget Expenses per Category

Category	Saugerties	Ulster	New Paltz
Highway	26.4%	28.4%	20.3%
Police	19.6%	26.3%	21.8%
Fringe Benefits	17.9%	22.6%	25.2%
Parks/Buildings/Youth Summer Rec.	16.0%	3.2%	4.1%

Town Government Comparison - Part 1

 *  Special districts not included
 *  Parks/Building & Summer Youth Program spending combined

Category	Saugerties	Ulster	New Paltz
Population	19,482	12,327	14,003
Assessed Valuation	$1.9 Billion	$1.1 Billion	$935 million
Total Spending	$12 million	$11.2 million	$10.5 million
Property Taxes	$9.5 million	$8.3 million	$7.5 million
Highway Spending	$3.2 million	$3.2 million	$2.1 million
Police Spending	$2.4 million	$2.9 million	$2.3 million
Fringe Benefits	$2.3 million	$2.5 million	$2.7 million
Parks/Buildings/Youth	$2.1 million	$359,819	$428,037

Percentage of Budget Expenses per Category

Category	Saugerties	Ulster	New Paltz
Highway	26.4%	28.4%	20.3%
Police	19.6%	26.3%	21.8%
Fringe Benefits	17.9%	22.6%	25.2%
Parks/Buildings/Youth Summer Rec.	16.0%	3.2%	4.1%

Thoughts on NYS Property Tax Cap

Recent events will provide major hurdles for the Saugerties School District and Town of Saugerties to remain within the State Property Tax Cap this year.  For taxpayers to receive property tax rebate checks from the State, local government units must remain within the tax cap.

The State recently announced that property taxes for schools will be capped at 0.12% this year.  While Saugerties School District spending was trending lower prior to the start of the cap in 2011, it’s faced serious reductions in State aid.  Finding a way to stay within the cap will be a major challenge for the School Board.

The cap has had a significant impact on town property taxes – but not by cutting spending.  Saugerties has stayed within the cap recently due to savings from the county gradually taking over Safety Net and election costs.  Ulster County recently announced it will seek to reduce the county sales tax distribution to the towns by one-third, which could cost Saugerties $70,000 in revenue and make it even harder to stay under the cap. 

Facing growing salary, fringe benefit and program costs, local governments statewide are calling for exemptions to the cap.  But relief is not likely.  Municipal governments will be put in the position of exceeding the cap at the risk of angering taxpayers not receiving rebate checks or significantly cutting services to remain under the cap.

The State is hoping this financial chaos will cause local governments to take drastic steps to significantly lower property taxes.  The State is providing financial incentives to merge and consolidate services.  Despite recent streamlining, the School District will have to dig even deeper to find more cuts and hope for sufficient State aid.   The town will be forced to look at sacred budgetary cows it has been unwilling to face previously.  Too bad the State is unwilling to apply the same tough medicine on itself to address its own spending habits!