GUILDERLAND — Residents will be paying the same tax rate as last year — just over 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value — according to the town’s $33 million budget proposal.

The preliminary budget calls for a lowered tax levy of roughly $11 million, down about $74,000, or .66 percent, from last year, Supervisor Peter Barber announced Monday. For the sixth year, the proposed levy is below the limit of a .68-percent increase set by the state.

Barber pointed out that, instead of increasing by the percentage allowed, the proposed levy will decrease by about that same percentage.

The spending decrease is about $43,000.

The proposed budget reduces the amount of police overtime pay by about $51,000.

Police overtime in 2016 cost about $251,000. The police department had originally requested $348,000, but Barber told The Enterprise that the police chief had since OK’d the lower amount, of $200,000.

One way that overtime will be addressed is by hiring an additional officer, bringing the number on the force up to 36, restoring a staffing level not seen in 10 years.

Chief Carol Lawlor told The Enterprise that the police department will try to work within the $200,000 in overtime if it is able to hire an additional officer. She added, “But then again, I have no crystal ball, and I don’t know if there are going to be people hurt [out on disability] or major crimes. But we’ll certainly do our best to work within that number.”

She mentioned the investigation of the October 2015 Chen family murder — a still-unsolved quadruple homicide that was very unusual for Guilderland — as another factor that increased overtime.

At different times throughout the year, Lawlor said, the force had three or four people out on disability; it currently has one officer absent on long-term disability.

“Our call volume has significant increased,” she said, “and we can’t strip shifts” and still provide town residents with good protection.

Budget highlights

Barber says the proposed budget will:

— Increase pay by 2.5 percent for union and non-union employees;

— Implement a drainage plan to remedy flooding of homes in McKownville; the town has state grants, Barber said, “although we have to spend the money — possibly as much as $1 million — before we get reimbursed”; the town will use reserves for that, particularly those of the water department, which Barber said were “healthy”;

— Reorganize several departments, making permanent the appointment of Gregory Wier as head of the Parks and Recreation Department, and bringing the transfer station under the auspices of the highway department; a foreman of the transfer station will be appointed, Barber said, and will report directly to Highway Superintendent Steve Oliver; and

— Extend the Route 158 water line for residences and a new interconnect between the town’s water system and Rotterdam’s; the line to be constructed along the boundary between the two municipalities will not only serve the houses there but also provide additional cushioning against potential problems, since this source will be the town’s fourth, Barber said, joining wells, the Watervliet Reservoir, and the interconnect with the City of Albany. The supervisor was hopeful that this additional water — and “Rotterdam has an abundance of water” that it wants to sell, he said — will help the town avoid a repeat of the ban this summer on lawn sprinkling imposed proactively, to ensure that the town could maintain sufficient hydrant pressure, in response to a water main break in Albany.

Earlier this year, Barber said, the town approved a $300,000 investment in new software, for payroll, billing, and finances. This will involve a “complete overhaul of the existing software,” Barber said, including payroll, tax bills, banking, and finances.

One way that the town has cut expenses has been by centralizing purchasing, Barber said. Since the spring, the town has been routing all purchases for any town departments through just two people in Town Hall, Nancy Levis, Barber’s confidential secretary, and Marcus Montgomery, clerk to the supervisor. This has streamlined the buying process, Barber said. So, for instance, he said, instead of each department buying its own paper, Levis buys paper for all departments, which Barber said can result in savings.

In a related change, the town’s network and systems technician, Jeff Gregory, has been “trying to get all the computers and printers throughout town offices to be similar,” Barber said, particularly since one of the biggest computer-related expenses is ink. If computers are able to use the same ink, he said, the town can receive bulk discounts.

The 2017 budget also reflects, Barber said, the final annual payments in 2016 of $40,000 for financing the closing of the former landfill and the transition of that site into the transfer station, a debt that had dated back to the late 1990s.

On the revenue side, the town is anticipating a very small increase in mortgage and sales tax, Barber said, adding that the budget is “historically always very conservative.” Every year, he said, “our very conservative estimates have been exceeded by the actual numbers.” For instance, he said, the town might anticipate receiving $6.8 million in sales tax, but the numbers then are actually over $7 million. “Whatever we get,” he said, “we just put back into the fund balance.”

Overall, Barber said, the economy is building right now, and bringing “a little more sales-tax growth.” The town has seen “consistent growth,” he said, in sales-tax revenues. He added, “Although it’s been a long road back from the Great Recession of a few years ago, it’s getting there.”

Barber said in an email that the fund balance as of year-end 2014 was $15.3 million, and that this had grown, one year later, to $15.7 million. The town’s revenues are heavily dependent on quarterly sales tax, he said, and the first two quarters of 2016 “have exceeded conservative estimates.” He hopes that the final two will, as well.

He added that, separate from the fund balance, the town also maintains reserve accounts for capital projects such as water and sewer improvements, highway projects, and drainage. As of Dec. 31, 2015, the reserves stood at $4.5 million; the 2017 preliminary budget adds $677,500 to the reserves, mostly for water and sewer improvements, he said.

The 2017 final budget will be reviewed by the town board, with a public hearing set for Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. Adoption is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. The board will hold budget workshops that are open to the public on Tuesday, Oct. 18 after its regular meeting, and on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.