BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Village Board of Trustees will host a public hearing about the 2020-21 village budget using the cloud application Zoom on Monday, April 6 at 5:45 p.m.

The budget calls for a zero percent tax increase.

A second public hearing regarding the village's plan to override the state tax levy cap and the board of trustees’ regular board meeting will also be held. Visit the village website at www.vi.potsdam.ny.us for details about attending the online meeting.

The 2020-21 fiscal plan, available online at https://bit.ly/3bN9xDP, starts June 1 and calls for total appropriations of $7,586,203. That will be covered by $4,170,946 in taxes and $3,408,932 in non-property taxes and $6,325 from the existing fund balance.

The total village budget can be further broken down into general fund, trash, hydroelectric and recreation budgets.

Total general fund appropriations will be $6,436,859, a -0.1 percent or $8,018 decrease from the 2020 budget. The general fund will be covered by $3,958,296 in property taxes, , a 0.8 percent increase from the 2020 levy of $3,780,012, and $2,478,563 in non-property tax estimated revenues.

The trash budget calls for $234,325 in appropriations to be covered by $212,650 in property taxes, $15,350 in non-property tax revenues and $6,325 from the fund balance.

For the general fund, the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed property value will be $18.28753, compared to $18,28746 for the current tax rate. The trash budget tax rate will be $13.66249 compared to $13.66294 in the current year. Both represent a zero percent tax increase on assessed property values for village residents.

The hydroelectric budget is $407,229 in appropriations which will be covered completely by non-property tax revenues.

The recreation budget is $507,790 in appropriations to be covered completely by non-property tax revenues.

Under the 2020-21 budget, salaries for village elected officials are $9,500 for the village mayor and $5,500 for the village trustees.

The board will open a second public hearing at 5:55 p.m. to hear comments on the trustees' proposal to override the state tax cap. The override will allow the board to levy taxes in excess of the limit established by the state in General Municipal Law.

Because the village offices are closed to the public during the COVID-19 crisis, residents submitting written comments on the budget and the tax cap override can email them to village clerk Lori Queor at lqueor@vi.potsdam.ny.us or send them by mail to Village of Potsdam, Village Clerk, P.O. Box 5168, Potsdam 13676.

The village board will host its regular meeting on the Zoom platform at 6 p.m. following the public hearing.

Among the agenda items, the board is expected to authorize the village treasurer to pay the firm Barton & Loguidice $22,465 for services up to February for the water pollution control facility and pump state construction projects.

They are also expected to approve payment to the firm Environmental Design and Research for $4,000 for the infiltration and inflow study, and $16,000 and $3,200 for the drinking water system's preliminary engineering report.

The board is also expected to approve the appointment of Jan DeWaters to the village's Climate Smart Communities Task Force.