NORTH NORWICH – The Town of North Norwich has passed a budget for the 2013 fiscal year, but like many municipalities in Chenango County and statewide, the town faces increased pension and healthcare costs for municipal employees which has led leaders to take requisite action to override the 2 percent property tax cap enacted by New York State.

At the last regular board meeting, council members approved the tax cap override to accommodate climbing pension and healthcare costs and a falling surplus balance. For a decade, the town – currently debt-free – has used accumulated interest from highway and building reserves in addition to budget surplus to maintain the tax levy for its general and highway funds; however, $50,000 was put to use for the 2012 budget and $53,000 is called for to reduce the tax levy again for 2013.

Large annual withdrawals from surplus and falling interest rates are quickly causing those reserve funds to dwindle, explained North Norwich Supervisor Robert Wansor, and according to an earlier press release, current trends of taking from those budget line items are “unsustainable,” although the town council has adopted a budget for 2013 that is “tight and fiscally prudent.”