Staff Reports
TOWN OF LOCKPORT — The town board adopted a final 2010 budget with neutral tax impact Wednesday.
The budget anticipates spending of $14 million on all town operations next year. All town employees except town board members will receive 3.5 percent pay raises.
Employee-related costs are up and projected revenue is down, thanks largely to collapsed interest rates and decreased water sales.
The gap is covered by increased use of fund balance, and the combined special district tax load will not increase. According to Budget Officer Robert Lipp, the bill applied to the average-value home should be $1.69 lower.
In other business Wednesday, the board approved a new, three-year dog control contract with SPCA of Niagara County. The new contract holds the town’s annual rate at $9,700, as it is now.
The board put its dog control business out to bid after a late summer presentation by principals of Eastern Niagara Animal Welfare Alliance, which has eyed property in Wrights Corners for development of an animal shelter.
SPCA was the only organization that returned the town’s request for formal proposals, Supervisor Marc Smith said.
