Property tax collections are down 26 percent in the Town of Bethany, Supervisor Louis J. Gayton told the Bethany Town Board this evening.
"When we made the budget at the beginning of the year, we kind of expected this," Gayton said. "We added some padding, so we're not in very much trouble."
Gayton is concerned that if the recession continues and there is a slump in sales tax, the problem could get worse.
He said a typical sales tax check is for $400,000, but if it drops to $300,000, it could undo the town's balanced budget.
Meanwhile, the town needs to buy another truck/snow plow, which would run $200,000 over two years, and the equipment should be purchased before new emission standards kick in, said Councilman Edward Pietrzykowski, and costs go up significantly.
In other Bethany news:
The town is going to advertise for a job for a new bailiff.
Also, the town is moving toward buying a compactor for recycled goods at a cost of $8,000. Pietrzykowski said the compactor will save the town a significant amount of money because companies that by recycled material prefer to get cans and such in a compact deliver, and currently the town spends a good deal of money shipping loose recyclable items.
