The Hurley town board received a budget proposal Tuesday evening of $3.5 million, an 11% decrease from this year’s total budget of $3.9 million.

Town Supervisor Melinda McKnight’s proposed spending package also includes a small decrease in the property tax levy. The General Fund and Highway Fund budgets call for a combined $2,307,949 in revenue from property taxes, down about 1.7% from the 2023 total of $2,347,261.

The proposed budget maintains the supervisor/bookkeeper salary at the 2023 rate of $103,946, as well as the four town board members’ combined salaries of $24,000. Town clerk Annie Reed’s salary, at $65,888, decreases in 2024 by over 20%, but Reed said at Tuesday’s meeting that she suggested the reduction to increase the deputy clerk’s rate. The highway superintendent receives $96k in the proposed budget, an approximate .75% increase.

Carrying over 2023 appropriations or slimming spending under lines including parks, recreation, and planning, the general fund comes to $1,780,961, a decrease of $336,301 from 2023. The highway department appropriations, at $1,730,228, decrease from 2023 by $123,351.

“This is the result of improving efficiency by streamlining services and eliminating redundancies, and budgeting without a reliance on savings, a departure from standard operating procedure,” McKnight said in a statement Monday.

McKnight’s challenger for the supervisor’s position, councilmember Mike Boms, claimed after Tuesday’s meeting that the decreases were “not realistic” and certain appropriations would need to be increased. Boms cited a blank medical insurance line in the highway department fund and insisted that the 2024 attorney fees appropriation of $60,000 would doubtlessly increase. Boms said that announcing the 11% decrease before the budget is finalized, which will most likely be after the November election, was a “political move” on McKnight’s part.

In a later conversation with the Wire, McKnight explained that the budget worksheets she sent to the highway department, returned reflecting only salaries. Typically, she added, the spreadsheets auto calculate employee benefits based on the inserted salaries, but this time they did not.

“That was an oversight on my part, and it will be corrected as soon as I am back in the office,” said the supervisor, who was out sick for several days. “Overall, I kept spending flat on as many budget lines as possible while hopefully still taking into account the increases that will surely happen in liability insurance and utilities. Mr. Boms’ remarks reflect his lack of understanding of the budgeting process and the Town finances overall.”

She added that she did not expect the attorney fees to increase and anticipated the next board meeting to assess how the proposal would be adjusted.

The board will discuss the proposed budget at its next meeting on October 17, at 7 p.m. and hold a public hearing on the budget at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24. The budget will likely be adopted at the board’s Nov. 14 meeting.