SCHUYLER FALLS — The tax levy is up 2.37 percent in the Town of Schuyler Falls's proposed budget for 2010.

The tax levy, which is the amount to be raised by taxes, is $1,458,945, up from the current $1,425,202.

The total appropriations in the 2010 budget amount to $2,132,845, an increase of 4 percent from 2009.

Revenues for the upcoming year total $456,400, a 6.9-percent increase from this year.

The anticipated general and highway tax rate is $3.64 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The total assessed value for Schuyler Falls is $285,836,291, with $26,931,019 of that being tax-exempt.

A major increase in the budget will be for highway costs, which will rise by $56,426. Town officials said planned road-improvement projects put into next year's budget contribute to the increase, as well as the rising costs of diesel, gas and salt.

Town officials will receive a 3-percent raise, and Highway Department personnel will get a comparable increase, which is negotiated through their union contract.

In 2010, the tax rate for the Morrisonville Water District will decrease about 2 cents to $1.89 per $1,000; Wood Mills Special Water District, down 2 cents to 86 cents; and Wood Mills General Water District, down 2 cents to $1.16.

The tax rate for the Cadyville Lighting District will decrease 2 cents to 11 cents per $1,000; Fatima Street District, down a slight 0.1 percent, keeping it around 74 cents per $1,000; Morrisonville Lighting District, staying at about 34 cents per $1,000; Newell Lighting District, up 4.3 percent to 60 cents per $1,000; and Schuyler Falls Lighting District, down 0.9 percent, keeping it at 68 cents per $1,000.

The tax rate for the Cadyville Fire District will decrease by 0.17 percent to stay at about $1.05 per $1,000; Morrisonville Fire District, up 5.4 percent to 76 cents per $1,000; and South Plattsburgh Fire District, down more than 12 percent to $2.18 per $1,000.

The tax rate for Ambulance District 1 is expected to drop less than 1 cent, keeping it at about 40 cents per $1,000; and Ambulance District 2 will drop by more than 14 percent to 16 cents per $1,000.

A public hearing on the 2010 budget will be held at 4:45 p.m. today at the Schuyler Falls Town Hall. The budget will be voted on at a special meeting immediately following.