KNOX — Supervisor Michael Hammond has drafted his final town budget — his 42nd — for $2.2 million with no tax increase.

“Budgets are tough when there’s something unexpected,” Hammond said. “This is pretty much bullet proof. Fiscally, we’re in good shape.”

He went on, “The new town board will have a good budget to work with.” Hammond lost his re-election bid to Vasilios Lefkaditis, who will assume office on Jan. 1.

Over his many years at the helm of Knox, Hammond said, “I always tried to make sure we’ve had a totally balanced budget. The board will have an easy time.”

The 2016 proposal includes roughly $790,000 in the general fund, and $1,127,000 in the highway fund, totaling about $1.9 million.

Estimated revenues for the general and highway funds, which come largely from county sales tax, are figured at about $972,500; another $678,500 is from the town’s fund balance, leaving $266,525 to be raised through local property taxes.

Knox collects tax levies for three special districts; residents of those districts, for the most part, bear the burden of those taxes. This includes about $16,000 for the Berne Fire District, a small portion of which falls in the town of Knox; $276,000 for the Knox Fire District; and $4,200 for the Knox Lighting District.

The current tax rate is $1.98 per $1,000 of assessed value and Hammond said that is likely to stay the same. “It may change a little bit, depending on if there are increases or decreases in assessment,” he said.

The proposed 2016 budget is “pretty much” the same as the cuurrentt budget, Hammond noted.

One change is that hourly workers will be getting an across-the-board raise of 40 cents an hour. This applies to about 15 town employees, Hammond said, including three at the transfer station; seven at the highway department; and the rest, such as the court clerk and bookkeeper, in the general fund.

Salaries for elected officials will remain the same: The supervisor earns $16,672, the two town justices each earn $10,143, the four council members each earn $3,825, the town clerk earns $12,585, and the tax collector earns $5,000; these are all part-time jobs. The highway superintendent, a full-time post, earns $55,878.

Other changes include an additional $986 for the Altamont ambulance; Helderberg ambulance stayed the same, Hammond said. Knox does not have its own ambulance squad and so pays the two out-of-town services, a total of $102,950 for next year.

Knox has no library of its own, either, and so contributes to both the Altamont and Berne libraries. Knox pays $7,500 to the Altamont library and next year will increase its payment to the Berne library by $1,000 to $4,500. “They requested the increase,” Hammond said of the Berne library.

The proposed budget also includes $1,000 for repairs at the town garage, which Hammond described as routine maintenance. “We’re in OK shape,” he said of the garage.

The budget also includes $3,000 to be used to bring broadband to areas of Knox that don’t have it. “It’s a new initiative for those on remote roads,” said Hammond. “We just held a symposium on it, with representatives from the state. The guidelines are not quite gelled...We want to be prepared to help this along.”

Another addition is $500 each for a youth services coordinator and a senior services coordinator. Charlotte Fuss holds the senior post and, said Hammond, is “doing very nicely putting programs together.”

Maryellen Gillis was recently appointed to the youth services post and will “coordinate to get more available for your youth,” said Hammond.

Hammond also incrased the amount for hospital and medical insurance to $23,430 from $18,700 this year. “I’m anticipating an increase in the rate,” he said. “I’ve never seen it go down.”

One cost that did go down was the town’s contribution to the state retirement fund — it is set at $12,000 for next year, down from $15,000 this year.

“Ever since 2008, municipalities had to pay more,” said Hammond as the stock market, where the fund has investments, faltered in the recession. “This is the first time we’ve seen a significant drop,” he said.