TAXES - Bend Over Madison County Taxpayers!

Caitlin Traynor of the ONEIDA DISPATCH does a great job of covering the MADISON COUNTY Board of SUPERVISORS.... following are links to the Supervisors' recent budget meeting, where they: .....are proposing to override the tax cap, raising taxes to 5.8%.....due to differences in equalization rates, tax rates will range from $6.98 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $10.06 on the same valuation...and cutting the MADISON COUNTY FAIR budget by 50%. Here are some highlights and please check out the links to both articles for more detail. This proposed budget will be passed onto the county’s finance, ways and means committee for review and will go before residents in a public hearing Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. I am contacting John Salka (who voted AGAINST the tax hike) to clarify what the hit to Brookfield will be. HIGHLIGHTS: $101.8 million county budget includes a 5.58 percent increase in the property tax levy, significantly exceeding the state’s 2 percent property tax cap, and equates to a 4.62 percent increase in the tax rate; The county’s property tax rate, as applied to each municipality, is based on equalization rates and sales tax apportionment. Taking into consideration those factors, county tax rates will range from $6.98 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $10.06 on the same valuation. More than 35 percent of next year’s levy will be consumed by Medicaid expenses alone that total nearly $11.4 million. Another 15 percent of the levy will go towards paying retirement expenses for county employees, nearly $4.7 million. MOST SURPRISING AND SEEKING CLARIFICATION: Starting at the beginning of the year all newly-hired management and confidential employees and elected officials will be required to contribute to their health care insurance premiums or participate in a new high-deductible plan. BUT NO DETAIL ON % CONTRIBUTION OR WHETHER THIS APPLIES TO ONLY "NEWLY-ELECTED" politicians. Seeking clarification from John on this as well... LINKS: http://www.oneidadispatch.com/general-news/20131113/madison-county-supervisors-vote-to-raise-taxes-higher-than-cap-would-allow and http://www.oneidadispatch.com/article/20131113/NEWS/131119697?source=jBarPopUp