Town of Riga maintains 0 percent property tax rate

Greece, NY -- Residents of the Town of Riga will, once again, pay no property taxes under next year's budget. Town residents pay no property tax because revenues exceed Riga's expenses, according to Supervisor Bob Ottley. "It has been this way since 2005 and should continue for many years — provided costs are controlled," he said. The spending plan, approved last month, includes $2,755,477 of expenditures, excluding the special districts, like water and sewer. That's an 8 percent increase in spending over this year, which Ottley attributes to the addition of $192,000 for capital projects and road repairs, which is 9 percent more than this year. Excluding the capital projects, spending decreased nearly 1 percent, he said. "The town department heads and their staff worked hard at controlling costs and presenting well thought out plans on how to efficiently continue to provide and improve on the services that we offer," Ottley said. The savings are a result of outsourcing dog control and kennel services, using private contractors for mowing and cleaning services, and controlling operational costs, according to the supervisor. Additional savings are coming from an extension of the life cycle of some of our bigger trucks in the highway department, as well as an aggressive replacement policy on some of the heavy pieces of equipment used in highway maintenance. Costs for health care insurance premiums are expected to rise by nearly 17 percent next year; there is no change in either the benefit plan or the percentage of contribution that the Town of Riga will make to these plans for full-time employees. The town's contribution for New York State retirement is also expected to increase — a fee mandated by the state, Ottley noted. The budget includes a 2 percent raise for all Riga employees and elected officials will receive a 2 percent wage increase. The Newman Riga Library will receive a slight increase in funding while the Riga Cemetery will, for the first time, receive some monies from the town to offset operational costs. New dugouts also will be installed at the new baseball field at Sanford Road Park. The spending plan also designates funds for replacement of the front end loader, backhoe, and skid steer loader, as well as a purchase of a new brush chipper, which will be purchased and shared with the Village of Churchville. Two new capital projects for next year are to perform drainage improvements along Buffalo Road, west from the village to Dollar General; a sidewalk will also be installed there in 2014. The second project involves renovation work to make the kitchen area more accessible in the Raymond C. Adams Cobblestone Hall and replacing its sidewalk. "Our budget process was done very effectively and in a way that the entire board has a great understanding of where all of our monies are being spent and where our revenues are being generated," Ottley said.