Dryden village officials close to adopting 2022-23 budget

Village of Dryden officials are close to adopting the 2022-23 fiscal year budget, according to Village Mayor Mike Murphy.

According to a breakdown of the proposed budget, total appropriations are estimated at $1,839,365.20, with project revenues slated at $1,751,899. This includes a fund balance amount of $87,466.20.

Other rundowns of the proposed budget included the water and sewer fund, which has project appropriations at $539,270 and $637,734, respectively.

“The [Board of Trustees] has worked very hard at it,” Murphy said. “The departments were good about what they needed, so we were able to put together an excellent budget.”

The proposed budget tax valuation is at $7.90 per thousand, which means village residents will not see a tax increase. There was also no tax increase in the 2021-22 budget, with a rate of $7.90 per thousand that year as well.

Murphy noted that in the time he has been the village mayor, there hasn’t been a tax increase “in the last 10 years.” As long as there isn’t a tax increase of concern, Murphy said, village residents “set a standard” for knowing the budget is in “good shape every year.”

“We flex things around based on things going on,” he added.

Murphy said there were “no major changes” in the proposed budget as compared to the 2021-22 budget but noted that “some minor changes” were made.

Village officials shifted around cost coverage in different areas of the budget, which helped to provide another year of no tax increase.

“We had some savings,” Murphy said, which came from the village switching to LED lighting in the Village Hall and the village as a whole. “Revenue has been coming in because sales tax has been good.”

Those savings, Murphy said, will be used to cover extra costs in labor contracts, align with the rises in gas prices and oil, run the sewer plant and remove “old, rotting” trees in the area.

Murphy said the village is looking to remove the old trees, which he noted are roughly between 50 and 100 years old, to avoid damage to properties and as a precautionary measure “for the safety of our village residents.”

The Village Hall remodeling and renovation project, Murphy said, is not factored into the upcoming budget. That project is anticipated to cost around $1.6 million, which will prompt village officials to collect funds through a bond.

Murphy noted Village Hall construction could start as early as May. Another part of the remodeling project, he added, is an upgrade to the Village Hall’s heating system, which will provide “even more savings.”

“We’re preserving now to have a functional building for the future,” Murphy said.

He noted that remodeling costs will be “spread out through the next few years.”

Murphy added there might be “some sort of tax increase” in the 2023-24 budget to cover the costs of the renovation project, but he is unsure what that could be. Murphy, however, did mention the renovation project cost “over the years will pay for itself.”

“We’re still in the preliminary stages,” he said in regard to costs for the renovation project.

Murphy mentioned that the proposed 2022-23 budget needs to be adopted before the end of April.

Dryden Dispatch appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Dryden Senior Citizens scheduled to meet April 11

The Dryden Senior Citizens (DSC) are slated to meet April 11 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building at 2272 Dryden Rd. in the town of Dryden. The meeting, along with announcements, will begin at 11:45 a.m.

Lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m. The lunch menu includes spaghetti with meatballs, tossed salad, garlic bread and pudding. The cost of the meal is $8 for DSC members and $9 for nonmembers.

Mike Stanley and his daughter, Michelle, will perform magic tricks as entertainment.

The DSC meets the second and fourth Monday of every month. The yearly cost to join the DSC is $5. Anyone in the Dryden area who is 55 years or older is welcome to join the DSC.

Upcoming meetings in the area

The Dryden Town Board is scheduled to meet for its abstract and agenda meeting on April 14 and its business meeting on April 21. Both meetings, with board members at the Town Hall at 93 E. Main St., are a hybrid option. Each meeting starts at 6 p.m.

The Village of Dryden Board of Trustees is slated to hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. April 20 at the Village Hall at 16 South St. The meeting is in person only.

The village of Freeville’s next Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for May 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Village Hall at 5 Factory St.