Beacon to Consider $30M Budget

By Jeff Simms | November 29, 2019

Reflects higher assessments, lower rates

The Beacon City Council is expected to vote on Monday, Dec. 2, on the city’s proposed $30 million budget, which includes a general fund and separate water and sewer funds, for 2020.

Because property assessments increased by 12 percent (residential) and 7 percent (commercial), the proposed budget includes tax rate decreases of 7.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

The proposal balances $21.8 million of general fund spending with $10 million in revenues, an $11.5 million tax levy and $380,000 in fund-balance spending, which is a slight increase over this year’s allotment. Projected spending for the water ($3.8 million) and sewer ($4.4 million) funds is unchanged. The tax levy, which includes an allowable growth factor based on new properties added to the city’s tax rolls, is within the state’s 2 percent cap.

Below are some significant factors:

Health insurance costs increased significantly, by $190,390, and continue to represent 15 percent of general fund expenses.
Recycling disposal increased to $100,000. In recent years the city has gone from receiving $15 per ton for recyclables to paying $83 to dispose of each ton.
Three firefighters will be hired, bringing the number of full-time Beacon Fire Department members to 16. A three-year, $537,423 federal grant will pay 75 percent of the new firefighters’ salaries in the first two years and 35 percent in the third year.
One police officer will be added, bringing the patrol division to 30. The officer will patrol Main Street.
A part-time Climate Smart Coordinator position is included for $9,500.
The Beacon Free Loop bus will receive $12,100.
Pension costs for police and firefighters increased 12 percent ($111,407), while retirement for other city employees went up 5 percent ($23,994).
Workers’ compensation costs decreased by 3 percent ($11,891) for the city workforce, and by 9 percent ($6,409) for career and volunteer firefighters.
The Beacon solar farm has completely offset electricity for city-owned buildings.
Streetlight costs are down 98 percent from 2018, when the city spent $75,308. The 2019 budget included $55,000, but only $4,480 had been spent by the beginning of October as a result of the conversion to LED lights and energy produced by the solar farm.