Potsdam Town Board starts planning for 2023 budget sessions

Andy Gardner, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Aug. 12—POTSDAM — The town board is getting ready to start developing the 2023 budget.

During a Tuesday night meeting, the board passed a motion allowing the town of Potsdam to override the state's 2% tax increase cap, if necessary. A second action item set up two budget workshops in late September.

The tax cap motion passed with no discussion. Many municipalities in the region pass a similar motion in advance of writing their annual budgets so they can go over the state's prescribed property tax increase limit, if they end up needing it.

The first budget workshop will be Sept. 20 to discuss the general, highway, water and sewer sections of the budget. The second will be on Sept. 27 to discuss the town-outside section. Both will be at 6:30 p.m. in the town office building on Elm Street.

Also during those sessions, nongovernmental groups that get town funding and want an increase in their allocation will have an opportunity to make their case before the town finalizes the spending plan.

"We were thinking of saying to these groups: If you don't want extra money, you don't have to come forward," Town Supervisor Ann M. Carvill said. "We're more interested in people with significant asks."

"I don't want to make too big of a deal if someone's getting $700 ... especially people not getting an increase," the supervisor added.

In other news, the board took three personnel actions following an executive session.

Steve Dilger was hired as a custodian worker, effective Sept. 6, working 30 hours per week at a rate of $36,000 per year with benefits.

The board hired Cindy Brand, a certified assessor, as a temporary, hourly independent contractor. She'll be paid $28 per hour, and $28 to cover travel costs, to sign documents that require an assessor's signature. This will occur either until the board hires a new or acting assessor, or until 2023.

The board hired James McGuire as a consultant to the assessor's office, effective Aug. 15 to Jan. 1, with a retainer fee of $13,000.

"Mr. McGuire would be paid an hourly fee of $45 per hour for time worked in the assessor's office (during this time frame) to do road work, paperwork, inventorying, and calculations needed to prepare a Sales Tax Analysis (due in early September) and to provide mentoring for the new assessor, should it be deemed needed," Town Clerk Cindy L. Goliber said.