JOHNSTOWN — The tentative 2018 Fulton County budget will be released at the Board of Supervisors’ monthly meeting at 1 p.m. Monday at the County Office Building.
County residents can expect county property taxes to be up on the average, at least initially, as the board works toward adoption of the spending plan in late November or early December.
“The [tax] levy is up, so obviously the [tax] rate is up,” county Budget Director Alice Kuntzsch said Thursday.
She declined to give specific figures related to the tentative 2018 county budget until Monday. She said that normally the county’s Budget Review Committee applies some fund balance to the budget ahead of time to reduce the proposed tax levy, but not this year. She said that situation may be left to the full board to apply fund balance if it sees fit.
A public hearing on the tentative budget is set for Nov. 27 at the County Office Building.
The county previously voted to exercise the state-imposed tax cap’s override option if it needs to. The state’s tax levy limit for Fulton County for 2018 has already been set at about 1.6 percent.
County officials last November adopted a $97.3 million county budget for 2017 that decreased the average county property tax rate by 1.6 percent.
Prior to the meeting — at 12:30 p.m. Monday in the Supervisor’s Chambers — state Sen. Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, is slated to join Fulton county supervisors to announce new state funding.
According to a news release, he will announce new infrastructure funding he secured for Fulton County for the Vail Mills development area to bring in residential, retail and commercial development.
The amount of the award won’t be made public until Monday.
Located around the intersection of Routes 29 and 30 in the town of Mayfield, at the gateway to the Great Sacandaga Lake and Adirondack State Park, officials hope the new 455-acre Vail Mills development area will offer 50,000 square feet of retail space, 132,000 square feet of commercial office space, single family homes and apartments as well as a potential 72-room hotel along with greenspace and park land.
Tedisco has secured a grant to support the proposed new development by bringing in municipal sewer service not currently available in the area, the release said.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at [email protected]
