MALONE — Franklin County accepted a tentative budget Thursday that calls for a tax increase of 18.1 percent, but legislators vow the numbers won't stay that high for long.

They are counting on the upcoming county-land auction to trim at least 9 percent off the tentative levy.

Formulating this year's budget appears especially trying, considering the shouting heard during a one-hour executive session with County Treasurer Bryon Varin before the budget was presented in the afternoon.

BY THE NUMBERS
The overall 2010 budget stands at $112,760,673, an increase of 5.06 percent over this year, according to figures submitted by County Manager and Budget Officer James Feeley.

The tax levy, which is the amount to be raised by taxes, is $13,469,536, an increase of 18.1 percent.

The tax rate per $1,000 of assessed-property value is set at an average of $3.61, which is up 14.92 percent from this year's average of $3.15.

A home assessed at $100,000 would see its tax bill go from $314.53 to $361.45 under the tentative budget, if its assessment remained unchanged.

A $2.2 million fund balance, coupled with $1.3 million in special reserves, was applied to the budget's bottom line.

Feeley said that every $112,000 found in revenue or cost savings trims the budget increase by 1 percent.

He told legislators he cut $660,309 from the budget overnight — when the tax levy stood at 23.08 percent — before submitting the revised plan to them on Thursday, which is the deadline set by local law for a tentative budget.

The state does not require a budget filing until Nov. 1.

Among the first wave of budget cuts was $50,000 for removal of blighted buildings; $26,000 for a spare voting machine and election supplies for the Board of Elections; $30,000 from the snowmobile-groomer fund; $20,000 in estimated overtime costs in the Probation Department; and $110,000 in road machinery, $50,000 in blacktop material and $5,000 in steel and more from the Highway Department.

Department head requests for new vehicles and heavy equipment remain to be decided, Feeley said.

SALARIES, CONSTRUCTION
He said the largest increases have come in salaries and employee-health benefits, plus the cost of renovating and building an addition to the courthouse.

The work has started, but the county does not know its interest rate on the bonds it wants to pay for the work, so the numbers are the best estimates they have for budget purposes.

For 2010, the total is $821,000, which Feeley says accounts for 7.5 percent of the overall tentative 18.1-percent tax-levy increase.

If the land sale goes as hoped and the tax-levy rate drops below double digits, Feeley said, the construction's actual budget impact would really be more like a 2-percent increase.

LAND SALE
Legislators will not have a budget-work session until after the land sale, which is set to begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Greater Malone YMCA.

Owners with parcels set for auction have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to redeem their properties.

There are 108 parcels tentatively set to be sold, but legislators said some properties would likely be redeemed, and another 17 or 18 could be pulled before the final sale deadline.

Another concern within the budget is a less-than-hoped increase in sales tax.

The county usually takes in an average of $500,000 to $600,000 more than its annual estimates.

But projections from the county treasurer show only a $100,000 increase: from $19.5 million in sales-tax revenue in 2009 to $19.6 million in 2010.

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com