GUILDERLAND — The town board here is looking ahead in its budgeting process to set aside funds for various initiatives as well as ensuring that it has a robust rainy-day account.
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the town board unanimously adopted a fund-balance policy to “establish adequate reserves to protect against unanticipated events.”

Aside from ensuring that needed public services are not jeopardized, the policy is also to “provide for taking advantage of unanticipated opportunities.”

Guilderland will strive to maintain an unrestricted fund balance of not less than 15 percent and not more than 35 percent of budgeted appropriations in each of the general, highway, water and sewer funds, the policy says.

“And if we either go below or above that amount, there are provisions about how the comptroller and the town board will work to either bring the number up or bring the number down,” said Supervisor Peter Barber.

Unlike school districts in New York state, which are required to have no more than 4 percent of the next year’s budget in a fund balance, towns have no such rules to follow.

Barber mentioned, as he had at an earlier meeting, that the nearby Albany County town of Colonie, a suburban town like Guilderland, with a population of roughly 85,000 compared to Guilderland’s roughly 36,000, had a fund balance of just 5 percent of its annual budget.

“The fund-balance policy is one of those guiding documents that make sure that boards … have at least a minimum fund balance but also don’t have too much money,” said Barber.

At the same time, the board established several reserve funds — for environmental protection, the town’s transfer station, and the town’s golf course.

Barber suggested and the board agreed to add to the purpose of the environmental protection fund “responding to climate change”  so as not to be “hamstrung by a purpose that it’s not broadly written for its intended purpose.”

The fund would also be used for expanding town parks, planting native trees, restoring habitat, and protecting watercourses.

“The transfer station right now spends almost half-a-million dollars basically picking up [materials for] mulching and whatnot,” Barber said. “Seven or eight years ago, it was $100,000. It’s storms. We’re just getting a lot more stuff we have to dispose of.

“This fund is intended to basically start setting aside funds so that we can start doing some of that work in-house,” he said.

The board amended the policy to include not just the purchase of equipment but also of property.

“We might want to acquire some additional adjacent land to make it work,” said Barber.

The town has fully paid off its debt for buying the golf course. The fund will pay for improvements at the Western Turnpike Golf Course.

“I know that there’s been drainage issues and it’s known as a kind of soggy course,” said Councilwoman Christine Napierski. “So it’s something we have to invest some money in.”

Napierski said she also had ideas for the clubhouse. “I’d love to beautify that space,” she said.

Councilwoman Amanda Beedle said it would be good to improve lighting. “It’s very, very dark,” she said.

The board also agreed to close the move the golf course appropriation and revenue lines into the general fund.

At the same meeting, the board agreed to spend money it had saved in an already-established reserve.

The board approved spending $1,237,541 from the Sewer Capital Improvement Reserve for upgrades at the Nott Road Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Superintendent Bill Bremigen wrote in a memo to the board that the plant is in “need of critical upgrades” and detailed what they were.

The board also agreed to set up two capital project funds — one for the Nott Road plant repairs at $1.2 million and the other for a Route 146 multi-use path and bridge. The $250,000 for that fund will be reimbursed by the state’s Department of Transportation.