November 11, 2020 is a Veteran’s Day unlike any we have experienced yet. It is more important than ever to honor the men and women who have and do serve our Nation. We just had a tremendous turnout for our election, and the right to exercise that vote has been defended by those who serve since the inception of the American Experiment. Think of so many countries around the world where you risk your life to vote or speak out against those in power. Our Veterans – current and past – ensure that will never happen in our great United States. Even though we cannot have the traditional Veteran’s Day ceremonies, let us all pause on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to give thanks to those brave men and women who protect our freedoms.
The 2021 Town budget was presented at a Public Hearing on Nov. 5. We worked hard to remain under the NYS Tax Cap despite another round of unfunded mandates by New York State and a loss of revenue due to the Covid pandemic. The Town budget must, by law, be separated into a Town-wide portion paid by all residents and a Town outside the Villages portion. This is because the Town under NYS law cannot charge Village residents for a service that the Village itself provides. The budget as presented will reflect a $95,848 or 3.07% decrease in the Town-wide funds and a $36,836 or 0.24% increase in the Town’s outside fund. The Town Board and I worked hard with our employees to draft a fiscally prudent budget for our residents, keeping the Town budget the lowest percentage of all your property taxes.
The second meeting of the Executive Order 203 panel will be held on Mon., Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. Directions for viewing will be posted on the townofwarwick.org website. An excellent synopsis of the first discussion can be found in the Nov. 4 edition of the official Town newspaper, the Warwick Valley Dispatch, as well as on their website. The full text of Executive Order 203 can be found at: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/no-203-new-york-state-police-reform-and-reinvention-collaborative.
There will be a Public Hearing on the sale of the dairy barn complex to the WVLDC for economic development purposes on Thurs., Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Warwick Town Hall, located at 132 Kings Hwy. in Warwick.
The next regular meeting of the Town Board will be held on Thurs., Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Warwick Town Hall.
