Town of Union Trims Tax Increase

11/13/2012 (Updated 11:04:08 PM)

The Town of Union Board trimmed the expected tax increase at a work session Tuesday.

The increase now stands at 2.7% for the villages of Johnson City and Endicott, and 2.6% outside the villages.

That is down from hikes of 3.8% and 2.7%, respectively.

The board expects to trim the increase further at a Friday work session by focusing on ways to reduce overtime.

The budget will be voted on Monday, November 19th.

"In the village area you can see quite a drop but that's subject to change one way or another, kind of like my election," said Rose Sotak, Supervisor for the Town of Union.

Sotak has a 150-vote lead over challenger Jack Cheevers, with absentee ballots still to be counted by Monday.

If Sotak wins, she would like to see a public vote on her proposal to cut the town council from five members to three as a way to further reduce costs.