GUILDERLAND — Town board members are struggling, as they often have in recent years while building the town’s budget, with wanting to give good workers substantial raises and wanting to save taxpayers money.

Last year’s budget was $17 million for a town with roughly 34,000 residents. For several years, there have been no town tax increases.

At the town’s first budget workshop last Thursday, all but one member on the all-Democrat board seemed to agree with Supervisor Kenneth Runion’s philosophy of keeping spending down.

Although Councilman Bruce Sherwin rallied for the town assessor and others to get more money, the board felt pressured by rising insurance and fuel costs.

Sherwin was not backed by the Democratic party and so is not running for re-election this year. He joked that he would take a pay cut next year so that others could get raises.

Democrat Paul Pastore, who is running with incumbent Patricia Slavick, for town board, and Mike Donegan, one of their Republican challengers, sat in on the public meeting.

A final workshop will be held tonight (Thursday) at Town Hall. Then, the highway budget will be discussed, as well as budgets proposed by the town clerk and receiver of taxes for their departments.

The tax rate will then be calculated before a final budget is prepared for vote.

Assessment office

This year was big for Assessor Carol Wysomski. Guilderland completed a town-wide reassessment of property, where the value of the average home increased about 40 percent.

The town does reassessment every few years, Wysomski explained earlier, because, without it, as newcomers move to a town, they pay taxes based on the price they paid for their property while parcels that haven’t sold recently usually remain at a lower rate, skewing the tax rolls.

This year, however, residents were alarmed at the rate of increase to their assessments. Hundreds, many angry, contested their assessments.

At last Thursday’s workshop, Wysomski spoke of her hard work and cost savings to the town. Later, she asked for a raise.

Wysomski’s budget reflects a savings of several thousand dollars.

The secretary to the board of assessment review has been replaced this year with two tape recorders, she said, saving the town $800.

The cost of supplies and gas mileage won’t be as high next year, Wysomski said. It was $9,500 this year, because of revaluation, but will be $4,000 next year.

In the assessor’s budget, the cost of computers and software has increased from $3,000 this year to $6,500 for next year. This cost is so the assessment office can have its own website, Wysomski said. Currently, the town’s website does not have enough space for the pictures and information the assessor has, she said.
"If you make this investment, it will free up the other server for the town," she said.

The town has also decided to set aside $5,000 for extra members of the board of assessment review. These members would be appointed temporarily, Runion said, and used if needed on Grievance Day.
"So, if we need to appoint five more people that day, we’ll have the money to cover that expense," Wysomski said.

This year, residents challenging their assessments had long waits at Town Hall on the state-set Grievance Day. Having more people available to listen to grievances would speed the process. The additional members would not be able to vote, but would listen and make recommendations for decision.
"This is our eighth reval and this time I had to do everything," Wysomski said.

This year, Wysomski said, she began producing her own assessment rolls, assessment change notices, street lists, and fire district labels. The state used to do this, she said, but stopped two years ago.

This work is an added burden to her, Wysomski said, but it saves the town $6,500.
"We’re the only town in the tri-city area that does revals in-house," Wysomski said. Most other towns, she said, hire outside contractors to do the work.

Wysomski told the board that her job is as important as the senior planner, who earns $66,900; the parks director, who earns $73,300; and the water superintendent, who earns $72,000.

Working for the town for 34 years, Wysomski said, she feels she’s entitled to a comparable salary.
"I’ve never really asked for a raise," Wysomski told the board. "I thought I’d give it a shot."

While Wysomski requested her salary for next year be $65,000, Runion recommended it be $58,494 or a 3-percent increase from her current salary.
"That’s a big difference," Councilman Sherwin said.
The three percent, Runion said, "is normal across the board. You know my conservative approach."
"It doesn’t hurt to ask," Wysomski said.

This is why he encouraged her to come to the budget workshop, Runion said. While he doesn’t recommend more than a 3-percent raise, he said, it’s up to the town board.

Many employees come to him asking for higher raises, Runion said. They compare their salaries to town workers in Colonie or Bethlehem, he said. But, he said, across the board, Guilderland’s salaries are lower than those towns.
"This town has always been more fiscally conservative than other towns," Runion said.

Town workers who belong to unions — such as police officers, paramedics, and civil service employees — usually get a 4-percent raise, he said.

But, Runion said at the first workshop, perhaps if the budget looks good and has no tax increases, some non-union employees who are falling behind in salary should be given 4 percent.

He suggested later in the workshop that Dr. Don Doynow, Guilderland’s director of emergency medical services, receive a 4-percent increase. Since Doynow is not in a union, his salary was falling behind similar department heads, Runion said.

The board agreed; Doynow will receive $49,920 next year.

Sherwin still rallied for Wysomski to get a higher raise.
"She’s done such a wonderful job for the town," he said. "On merit alone, she deserves more."

Wysomski’s proposed budget for her office was $262,022, including a larger raise; without that, in Runion’s proposal, the department would receive $255,516.

Sherwin went on that Wysomski’s job is important to the town. Wysomski generates tax revenue for the town, he said.
"I don’t know how she generates revenue," Runion said.
"I’m increasing the tax base," Wysomski said.
"Other taxing entities may use assessments to make revenue, but we don’t," Runion said.

It is still important for Wysomski to be accurate and not make mistakes, Sherwin said.

This is true, Runion said. But, he said, it is a misstatement to say that the assessor generates revenue for the town. With revaluation, he said, Wysomski is making sure that taxpayers pay an equal share.
"We get enough misconceptions from residents, we shouldn’t with board members," Runion said.
"It’s not like we don’t get any tax revenue either," Sherwin said.
"Carol makes sure the allocation is equal and fair among the town," Runion said.

Councilman David Bosworth then said he applauds Wysomski for bringing the board a budget that has cost savings. Many employees don’t do that, but ask for a raise anyway, he said.

Wysomski thanked the board for its time and left, with a 3-percent raise.

Other salary changes

Almost every year, the chief court clerk, Becky Letko, comes to the annual budget workshops and asks for a raise above the 3 percent. Guilderland has the third largest court caseload in Albany County, she’s said before, but workers’ salaries aren’t comparable to other towns.

She did not come to this year’s workshop, however.

This year, Runion decided to adjust Letko’s salary. She, and co-court clerk Eileen Dean, will now be paid for five additional hours of work per week.

Before, Runion said, the clerks were paid for 35 hours a week and, when they worked longer, were allowed to bank those extra hours.
"Both accumulated several hundred hours of comp time which scares me," Runion said. If the clerks wanted to cash all those hours in now, the town would have to pay them their current hourly rate, he said.

So, next year, Letko will receive $45,709 and Dean will earn $39,092; this is an 18-percent increase to their current salaries. "It’s better to pay it as we go than to someday have to bite the bullet," Runion told the board. "That could ruin a budget."

Although senior-citizens coordinator Cindy Wadach didn’t ask for a raise above the 3 percent, Sherwin requested that she get one.
"She does an incredibly good job and she never asks for more," he said.
"She does do a good job," Runion said. "She says every day that she’d work here for free, she loves her job so much."

Bosworth requested that Wadach’s raise be added to an end-of-budget review list. The senior citizens’ program has improved 100-percent under her leadership, he said.
"We do have a fiscal responsibility to taxpayers," Runion said. "Because I’m here every day and, when you start to move salaries around, you have three other people pounding on your door."
"Our job is to advocate for the good people," Sherwin said of himself and other town board members.

Runion said that the town board can overrule his initial recommendations. But, he said, union members use these extra raises to make their pitches.

Wadach and Wysomski are outstanding people who save the town money and make people happy, Sherwin said.
"You don’t know what it’s like," Runion said.
"We can find other places to cut," Bosworth said.
Later, Runion said, "I have to admit, Cindy [Wadach] is a department head that advocates for her employees all the time."

Her salary will be further discussed tonight.