Town of Watertown OKs budget with no tax levy

The Watertown Town Council at a meeting Thursday night unanimously approved the 2010 budget that calls for no tax levy.

The town's general fund budget is $1,038,654, a 2.1 percent increase over the $1,017,230 it will spend in 2009. The highway fund will increase 7.8 percent, from $934,455 to $1,007,293. The town has budgeted to spend $150,000 to pave roads in the upcoming budget, compared with the $70,000 it is budgeted to spend in 2009.

Town Supervisor and chief financial officer Joel R. Bartlett has budgeted about $872,000 in sales tax revenues from the county, $180,000 of which will be used to buy down the county's tax levy. The town's fund balance, or rainy day fund, is about $725,000, which has decreased from about $860,000 this year.