Update 11 a.m. with comments from Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein:
"We can gladly say that this is good news for the people in our county's towns and villages and City of Batavia. As the calendar moves on, there were key factors that we had to understand before we could determine (the amount to be distributed). The taxpayers are the ones who will benefit as they are the most important people in this entire conversation. It shows that we can work collectively in a manner that can least harm our taxpayers."
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The Genesee County Legislature later today is expected to pass a pair of resolutions that will authorize the distribution to towns and villages of another $6 million in revenue to close out 2020 and $10 million in anticipated revenue for 2021.
“These are the dollar amounts that the legislature felt it could share for the rest of 2020 based on total revenues that come into the county, taking into consideration various lost revenues – state aid, sales tax and interest earnings,” County Manager Matt Landers said this morning.
Landers said the final round of $6 million in payments brings the 2020 total distribution to the county’s 13 towns and six villages to $12,179,543.
Looking ahead, the legislature’s intention to provide $10 million in revenue distribution for next year is welcome news to the municipalities, especially the town boards that are in the process of finalizing their budgets for their 2021 fiscal year that begins in January.
For villages, the 2021 distributions will help in crafting budgets for 2021-22 as their fiscal years run from June 1 through May 31, except for Alexander, which runs from April 1 through March 31.
The $10 million is more than what Landers called “a conservative estimate” of $8 million that the legislature projected in early September – but still less than the $14 million originally budgeted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Initially, we didn’t want to project a number that we couldn’t provide, and after another month or so of reviewing the data and reviewing where our revenues are coming in, the legislature felt comfortable increasing that $8 million estimate to $10 million,” Landers said.
Revenues are determined by a formula that takes into account the municipality's taxable assessed value and equalization rates.
Following are the dollar amounts (total of $6 million) that represent the final payments for 2020:
TOWNS
- Alabama, $237,321;
- Alexander, $245,122;
- Batavia, $1,025,995;
- Bergen, $296,990;
- Bethany, $246,247;
- Byron, $284,878;
- Darien, $593,614;
- Elba, $221,624;
- Le Roy, $495,998;
- Oakfield, $183,392;
- Pavilion, $327,483;
- Pembroke, $600,149;
- Stafford, $379,168.
VILLAGES
- Alexander, $44,197;
- Bergen, $113,589;
- Corfu, $80,543;
- Elba, $64,499;
- Le Roy, $435,583;
- Oakfield, $123,609.
Following are the dollar amounts (total of $10 million) that represent full payments for 2021:
TOWNS
- Alabama, $408,817;
- Alexander, $399,714;
- Batavia, $1,692,733;
- Bergen, $510,034;
- Bethany, $410,123;
- Byron, $462,932;
- Darien, $973,751;
- Elba, $361,341
- Le Roy, $824,606;
- Oakfield, $300,052
- Pavilion, $544,694
- Pembroke, $1,023,383;
- Stafford, $651,846.
VILLAGES
- Alexander, $71,208;
- Bergen, $199,528;
- Corfu, $138,044;
- Elba, $106,922;
- Le Roy, $720,318;
- Oakfield, $199,954.
The full legislature meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Old County Courthouse and will be followed by an informational meeting to set the timeline of the Genesee County Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative at 7 p.m.
In another development, the county’s Information Technology department has been working since Tuesday morning to restore phone, financial management and email networks to full efficiency. Officials have been unable to use email and getting through by telephone has been hit-and-miss.
