The Middletown City Council on Nov. 21 passed a $47.5 million budget for next year, reflecting a $2 million increase from the current year.
The budgeted property tax levy, when compared to this year, increases by about $1 million to $23 million, the maximum amount allowed under the state tax cap.
Each year, the New York state comptroller’s office calculates property tax caps for municipalities based on factors enumerated in state law; for Middletown, the cap is set at $23 million for 2024.
After property taxes, which cover nearly half of the city’s expenses, sales tax is the second-largest revenue source, budgeted to be more than $14 million.
State aid, the third-largest revenue source, is estimated at $2.7 million for 2024.
“I think it is a very sound budget,” Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano told The Epoch Times. “We had a lot more requests from department heads, but we managed to stay within our means.”
As for expenses, personal services costs—mainly employee salaries and largely driven by union contracts—take up the largest chunk at $19.6 million, up by $600,000 from this year.
The budget adds three new positions to the police department, bringing the total sworn force to 75 police officers; the city currently employs 213 full-time workers.
“We want to build the number back up, and we want to enhance patrols in the city, especially in areas where we have seen slight increases in crime, such as larceny,” Mr. DeStefano said.
Employee benefits, which is the second-largest expense category for the city, are estimated to increase by $1.36 million to $16 million in 2024.
Within employee benefits, health insurance payments for active employees and retirees take up more than half of the total costs at $9.2 million, followed by pension contributions at $3.8 million.
City Treasurer Leonora Liz told The Epoch Times that the city had been looking to add health insurance options in addition to the current longtime provider to hopefully drive down the costs.
Money to pay back short- and long-term debts will drop by $200,000 to $3 million for 2024.
Mr. DeStefano said the city decided to use federal COVID-19 dollars to cover a new ambulance contract with a company called Empress this year, but it may have to turn to property taxes to foot the bill in the future. If that happened, it would be very hard for the city to stay below the tax cap, he said.
The mayor said the city is also looking at having the fire department take up some of the ambulance services in the future.
The City Council also passed a water budget of $7.6 million and a sewer budget of $6.2 million.
