PERU — Taxpayers in the Town of Peru will see a small decrease in their tax levy for 2010.

The tax levy for the General Fund is set at $851,751 in the preliminary budget, down about 1 percent from 2009.

"The town's goal was to maintain a flat budget," said Deputy Supervisor Cortland Forrence, who was appointed to the position a little over a month ago to help jump-start the town's budget process.

"I brought them a tentative budget that was close to being flat, and they made a few changes that helped keep it relatively flat."

The tax rate for the General Fund is set at $2.07 per $1,000 of assessed value, as compared to $2.16 in 2009.

The 2010 tax levy for the Highway Department is $1,001,755, which is just $300 more than the 2009 figures. The tax rate for highway dropped from $2.51 in 2009 to $2.44.

"The councilors have appropriated $24,000 from the fund balance to maintain a flat tax rate," Forrence said, noting that the town still has about $650,000 in the General Fund balance and more than $1 million in combined unappropriated funds between General and Highway.

"That is good news for the town," he added. "The town has done a good job controlling costs, and the fund balance has grown nicely.

"The councilors are considering applying a little bit more of that balance to further reduce the levy."

The tax rate for the Town of Peru Sewer District will increase from $1.47 to $1.84 per $1,000 to help pay back a new bond the town received to replace the district's aging infrastructure, Forrence said.

Taxpayers in the Valcour Sewer District will also see an increase, from 96 cents to $1.07, and commercial sewer districts will have an increase from $1.21 to $1.37, both due to that same bond.

The Peru Sewer District will also be paying for a new bond, but the users recently finished paying for a bond, so residents will see their sewer tax rates drop from 35 to 16 cents.

"Overall, it's a good budget," Forrence said. "We have not had to cut any programs, and we've been able to reduce some expenses here and there while maintaining the same level of services we had last year."

Copies of the preliminary budget are available for review at the Town Hall.

A public hearing on the proposed budget is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Town Hall.

E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com