We, as citizens, taxpayers, and voters of Saratoga County, oppose the 2017 budget proposal by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, which would increase property taxes and override the property tax cap. We do so with statements made in the following petition.
Whereas: Saratoga County has collected millions of taxpayer dollars and placed them in reserves and instead of using reserves, plans to increase the tax burden on residents, and
Whereas: This is the fourth consecutive budget where reserves have been used to balance the budget without proposing alternative methods to reduce spending, and
Whereas: The property tax increase is used to justify pay raises for government employees and elected officials. This includes the county administrator who has raised his own pay from $128,973 in 2013 to a proposed $148,984 in 2017, and
Whereas: Hiking property taxes above the cap will cause county taxpayers to lose their tax-freeze rebate payments from the state.
Now therefore, be it resolved, that we urge the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors to reverse their decision to increase property taxes and override the tax cap, and
We demand an increase in fiscal responsibility that includes the identification of budgetary savings from redundant, duplicative, and unnecessary expenditure of funds, particularly on services or items better handled by private sector expertise, before increasing the burden on taxpayers, and
We further demand that a detailed list of efficiencies, eliminated positions, and budget cuts be provided to the public for their review before a property tax increase should be considered, and
The undersigned pledge as informed, motivated, and active citizens that we will remain engaged to hold members of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors accountable for decisions that raise taxes, assessments and spending beyond the rate of inflation within the 2017 Saratoga County budget.