BUSTI - Hunters in Busti may take more than one deer this hunting season to help control the town's population.
On Monday, Diane VanDewark, town clerk and tax collector, said permits for the state Department of Environmental Conservation's deer management assistance program are now available at the town's office, 121 Chautauqua Ave., Lakewood.
Special permits were issued to allow licensed hunters to kill additional deer - in addition what state law already allows - during the open hunting season. Only deer without antlers or having antlers measuring less than three inches in length can be taken with the special permits, according to the DEC's website. Under the deer management assistance program, a specific block of land in the town has been designated as the site where hunters may harvest additional deer. The area will be east of Wellman Road to Trask Road and from Baker Street south to Cowing Road.
Landowners in this area may apply to receive the special permits to harvest an extra deer during hunting season. Also, people who don't live in the specified area may receive special permits if they have written permission from a landowner in the designated region. VanDewark said 50 permits were issued to the town. People may apply for the permits by stopping into the town's office location or can call 763-8561 for more information.
Jesse Robbins, town supervisor, said the permit does not give permission to people to hunt on posted property. The supervisor said they have asked for the permits to lessen the population of deer, which cause a problem with public safety by causing vehicle accidents and damaged property by destroying trees and shrubbery.
In other town business, a work session will be held on the 2013 tentative budget from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5. Robbins said the board will further discuss the budget during its next regular meeting the same night. A public hearing on the budget will be held Monday, Nov. 19.
The tentative 2013 Busti budget process has started with a 12 percent tax increase. Robbins said, unfortunately, there will be a tax increase by the time the board passes the spending plan. That is why the board passed a local law to override the 2 percent tax levy cap at its last meeting.
Robbins said the tax increase is because of higher costs for retirement funding and workman's compensation. The workman's compensation charge is $64,000 for the town in 2013. This is a charge that was not part of the town's budget last year, but was included in the county's budget.
This year the county will be billing the town rather than doing a chargeback. The county eliminated chargebacks of workmen's compensation after a state audit showed $69,000 in tax cap overrides. Because chargebacks were not included as part of its tax levy calculations, the county went over its limit. As a result, towns now will be billed directly from the county, as is the current practice for villages and cities. In turn, towns will increase their tax levy to make up the difference.
The tentative budget has a $118,572 tax levy increase. The tax levy is the amount of money raised through property taxes. The total proposed tax levy is $962,195. The total budget has increased $106,648 or 4 percent. The total budget for the town is $2,781771.
The 2012 budget had a tax levy decrease of 3 percent, it totaled $843,623. The total budget was $2,675,123.