Town Supervisor

Supervisor Barrett and the Town Board have released the 2024 Preliminary Budget for review by the residents of Clifton Park.  The Town remains committed to maintaining the status of having no General Fund Town Property Tax, while making significant investments in recreation, social services, public safety, infrastructure, programs and activities for all ages and many other important elements of serving the Town. 

The General Fund spending is currently projected to be $21,380,016.  The Town Board continues to invest in the parks and recreation of the Town.  As 2023 enters the fourth quarter, 10 new Pickleball Courts are under construction, the new Project Adventure Course at Collins Park is being mapped out on site and a new playground on The Common has been completed.  A significant investment was made to the Country Knolls Pool with a liner replacement project as work occurred over two seasons.

We have included funds in the last two budget cycles for the Veterans Monument Walkway Improvement Project.  Hundreds of bricks identifying Veterans have been sold and the project has made tremendous progress the last couple of weeks.   

The membership levels for the Clifton Park Senior Community Center continue to recover and are approaching numbers reached prior to the COVID Pandemic.  The Town assumed operation responsibility of the CPSCC at the end of 2016, and membership grew from 620 to 1500.  We expect to reach 1400 members in 2023, which is a tremendous increase since the pandemic.  We will continue to improve and add to our offerings of activities, classes, informational sessions, trips and much more.    

The Town, like every other organization and household, has been challenged by inflation throughout our operations.  We believe despite the increased investment in our Town and inflationary pressures, the Town will not need to break the Tax Cap.  We are continuing to consider and investigate personnel requests that have been submitted for consideration for the 2024 budget.  As the budget process continues, we will have more visibility on any proposed changes and the effect additional spending may have on the Town’s position in reference to the Tax Cap.  As a municipality with very low taxes, the increase Clifton Park is allowed annually is therefore a small number related to the Tax Cap.  An allowable increase on a small number is ultimately a small number.                

The Highway Fund budget for 2024 is $7,156,524 which is a 7.71% increase over the 2023 adopted budget. For a home with a full market value of $300,000, the total 2024 Highway Tax will be $37.69.   The Town continues to invest in infrastructure, vehicles, and equipment annually to ensure personnel is equipped to handle daily tasks and respond to timely situations. 

As we have identified, discussed, and publicized earlier this year, there has been a significant amount of money for paving and infrastructure allocated by the Town Board in recent years that was unspent by the Highway Department.  The Town Board recently allocated an additional $300,000 from the Highway Surplus, to pave roads in the Exit 8 area.  The funds were initially allocated for paving and several additional roads and courts were able to be paved in 2023.  The Highway Budget for 2024 includes an additional $400,000 of these surplus monies that will be moved to the paving line, which now totals an increase over 2023 to $1,066.000.  The budget also includes $467,000 for paving through the CHIPS program.  The Town Board also allocated additional paving and stormwater maintenance funding in 2022 from the ARPA program.  Currently, there remains $288,487 in paving money that has been unspent and $166,216 in money for stormwater improvement that has also been unspent from the 2022 allocation.  Therefore, additional funds for paving are available in addition to the money detailed in the 2024 Preliminary Budget.   The Town Board also recently utilized $60,000 in funds allocated two years ago for the Highway Department to conduct a study on the replacement of the gas pumps next to the Highway Garage.  These pumps are connected to a generator and are integral to our emergency response efforts.  Many community partners such as first responder organizations use these pumps.  The study and money was never initiated by the Highway Department so the Town Board took over the project and engaged with an engineering firm to move the planning process forward.      

The Town will continue to partner with local organizations for EMS Services.  For a home with a total market value of $300,000, the total EMS tax will be $36.75.  

The 2024 budget continues the Town’s strong commitment to maintaining and improving its infrastructure. Significant funding for stormwater, road repair and sanitary sewer maintenance remains in the 2024 budget.    

The Town offered a Bulk Waste Pick-up Service annually for many years.  When we experienced falling participation, we moved the program to every other year.  There is funding in the 2024 budget to offer the service in the Spring.  More details will be released in the first quarter of 2024, after we complete a bidding process.  Funds are also included in the 2024 budget to continue the free Yard Waste Pick-up Program. 

The Full Market Value of the Town has now surpassed $7 billion.  The Town Center Planning process has led to a growing tax base, a diverse economy, a plethora of services close to home and success in the Exit 9 Commerce Area, that helps fund Town services and our school system.   

Please note the information in this release reflects the details included in the 2024 Preliminary Budget.  Several weeks of the budget process remain and the final budget will be approved in November.  We will provide updates as new information becomes available as we work through the lengthy budget process.