TIMES
WALLKILL VALLEY
Vol. 33, No 42 3 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2015
3
ONE DOLLAR
Grand Old
Opry Singer
Vikings
clinch
playoff bye
Page 28
Page 56
www.WallkillValleyTimes.net
Montgomery to override tax cap Town of
Proposed town budget seeks increase of 1.47%
Wallkill
officials to
get 12 %
L
M W
pay raise
By RACHEL COLEMAN
Montgomery Town Supervisor Mike
Hayes has presented a proposed budget
that calls for an override to the tax cap.
While he is looking to override the
tax cap for an increase of 1.47 percent on
the levy (the magic number this year is
0.73 percent), Hayes said residents should
expect their actual tax rates to stay about
the same.
This year saw the creation of the
Neelytown West Water District in the
town, a $3.8 million project which will
ittle
iss
provide water services to additional commercial parcels on Neelytown Road. As
a special district overseen by the town, it
is included in the calculations for the tax
cap.
Continued on page 26
alden
By RACHEL COLEMAN
Melanie Tuthill (c) was crowned Little Miss Walden, Saturday, on a chilly morning in Walden’s Municipal Square. She is surrounded by first
runner-up Sharlene Ingenito (l.) and second runner-up Jaslenne Ingenito.
“It just seemed wrong,” said Wallkill
Town Councilman Ralph Carr.
The Wallkill Town Board voted recently to amend the supervisor’s preliminary
2016 budget by adding a 12 percent salary increase for the supervisor and town
board members, as well as an increase of
$5,300 to the stipend for the budget officer.
With the town now showing signs of
growth and the tough cuts behind them,
Carr said he and other town board members felt it was the right time to consider
a moderate salary increase for the town
board and town supervisor.
Carr noted that they were in a unique
situation where three of the current board
members are not returning, so in May
they asked the town’s Ethics Committee
to perform an independent study and
report back to the town board.
That report recommended a 20 percent increase in the coming budget year
to address the “inequities” they found
after comparing the salaries in similar
towns such as New Windsor, Newburgh
and Warwick.
Continued on page 52
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL