Dear Town of Newport Residents:
The $983,702.00 Town of Newport FY 2025 Annual Budget was passed by the Town Board on November 4, 2024. This year’s budgeting process has been guided by a main Budget goal of building and maintaining a more accessible, efficient, and impactful Town government through maintaining currently provided Town services, as well as investing into modernization, community care, planning & development, recruitment & retention, and public health & safety.
Town Taxes
The Budget raises real property taxes by $14,364.00, for a total tax levy of $140,185.00, compared to the tax levy of $125,822.00 in 2024 and the tax levy of $195,822.00 in 2023. This leaves the Town with one of the lowest tax rates in Herkimer County: 1.020112. Additional expenses are drawn from FY 2024's unexpended balance and Town savings to make up the difference not covered by Town revenues and taxes. This strategy is possible due to higher than anticipated sales tax revenue and unspent allocations across funds this fiscal year and will allow the Town to gradually bring taxes back to an economically sustainable level over time while also ensuring Town services, operational improvement initiatives, and investments into our workforce and community are not hindered by budget or program cuts presently.
Modernizing Internal Operations
The Budget makes investments to allow the Town to further modernize its operations, increase cyber security protections, and reduce barriers of entry to Town resources and services for residents, including funding to:
- Implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions into the Town, including professional software for accounting and financial management, human resources management, online payment of Town taxes, services, and fees, online permit and license services, and community engagement.
- Implement a professional phone system with a main office help line, voicemails for specific departments, support for remote calling capabilities, and work phone numbers for Town employees.
- Implement an Office 365 Government GCC environment for email communication and the digitization and secure cloud storage of all Town records compliant with Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP Moderate), Internal Revenue Service's Publication 1075 (IRS-1075), and Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) standards.
- Implement cyber security controls and network security protections for the Town’s offices and remote work platforms that provide advanced security features for data protection and threat mitigation.
- Enable the Town to accept card payments in the Town Offices for Town taxes and other Town services and fees.
Enhancing Community Care
The Budget makes investments to enhance recreational opportunities for residents and enable the Town to better engage with and understand the needs of the community through funding to:
- Fund a Town Parks and Recreation Department to better provide the Town’s residents with recreational areas and events, programs for the aging, and engagement opportunities to keep the Town connected to the needs of the community.
- Implement community engagement coordination software for social media posts, Town newsletters, and Town website communication.
Investing in Planning & Development
The Budget makes investments into capital projects and the implementation of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan, by providing funding to:
- Conduct an overarching Town facilities assessment with goals of determining actionable steps to better enhance the accessibility of Town buildings, environmental sustainability of Town operations, and compliance with Federal, State, and local requirements.
- Planning, engineering, highway, and legal Budget lines to implement the objectives of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan.
Improving Recruitment & Retention
The Budget makes investments into the Town’s workforce by funding to:
- Increase hourly rates to $20.00 per hour for administrative employees and $25.00 per hour for Highway Department Motor Equipment Operators to continue to better align wages with surrounding Towns and better position the Town in its short-term and long-term workforce recruitment and retention objectives.
- Provide a three percent raise for select appointed positions to continue to better align salaries with surrounding Towns and better position the Town in its short-term and long-term workforce recruitment and retention objectives.
- Establish clear and consistent personnel policies and procedures to better protect employee rights, ensure compliance with and enforcement of Federal, State, and local requirements, and enhance the Town’s recruitment capabilities.
Safeguarding Public Health & Safety
The Budget makes investments into public health and safety efforts, including funding to:
- Support the Kuyahoora Valley Ambulance Corps. in bringing 18-hour ambulance coverage to local residents.
- Support the Middleville Volunteer Fire Department in providing fire coverage to the Village of Middleville.
- Support local cemeteries with upkeep and maintenance costs to better ensure long-term organizational financial sustainability.
- Enable the Town Highway Department to remove snow from Town and County roads and repair and maintain Town bridges and roads.
Change takes time, but with this Budget, the Town of Newport will be better positioned throughout the year ahead to continue to make meaningful progress in further modernizing the Town and making it work more efficiently and equitably for the people we represent.
For more information on the FY 2025 Annual Budget and the Town’s overall financial standing, please visit https://www.townofnewportny.org/budget-and-finances.
All my best,
Nathaniel Lowell
Town of Newport Supervisor