Ogdensburg budget calls for tax increase

OGDENSBURG — The Ogdensburg Council unanimously approved on April 11 its 2016 municipal budget.
Municipal Auditor Thomas Ferry presented the budget during public hearing. He said, residents' tax rates will increase by 0.99 percent.
For an average assessed house of $221,359, the home owner will pay $2,441 in 2016. That is $30 more annually than last year, on only the municipal portion of the budget. \
Last year, homeowners paid $2,411 annually on the average assessed house of $221,461, not including school or county taxes.
Ferry said the total 2016 budget is up $58,466 to $2,757,640, a 2.17 percent increase. The total 2015 budget was $2,699,174.
To keep the tax increase down to .99 percent, the council used $81,768 of the $821,075 fund balance. Therefore, the fund balance for 2016 will be $739,307.
The total tax levy for in 2016 is $2,168,629, up $21,342 from $2,147,287 in 2015.
The average tax point is $19,664, which works out to: $10 on a $100,000 house; $20 on a $200,000 house; and $30 on a $300,000.
The Ogdensburg water budget went down by $11,085, 3 percent, from $369,226 in 2015 to $358,141 in 2016. This happened by using less anticipated fund balance and a slight increase in rents, or revenue, of 1.88 percent.