January 2025 Letter from the Supervisor

Happy New Year Scipio residents,

Most of us received that wonderful envelope on January 2 with our tax notice inside.  I would like to take a few lines to talk about this important notice.

First, our town clerk and tax collector, Ann Robson, is in the office every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1 – 5:30 and additionally during January on Saturdays from 9 to noon to receive your payment.  As always you can mail your taxes to Box 71, Scipio Center as well.  This year we are also offering the ability to pay by credit card or ACH.  These payments must be done online by going to TaxLookup.net.  Processing fees will be added in the calculation so the town will receive the full amount as billed.  This year credit card payments and ACH are not being accepted in the town office, while personal checks and cash will.

I also want to explain your tax bill a little bit.  The town tax collector serves as the collecting agent for the town, the county, and the fire district for the first 3 months.  Payments made after March 31 are to be mailed to the Cayuga County Treasurer.

Approximately 72% of your taxes go to the county, 12% to the fire district and only 15% remain in the town.  This amounts to $297,672.  This is only 23% of the town’s total budget. Fifty per cent of our income comes from the county’s distribution of sales tax each quarter, based on land values.  This higher per cent sales tax is because Scipio has more lake front footage than any other town on Owasco Lake. Most towns need to raise 50% of their budget from local taxes. Additionally, 60% of the budget helps maintain the town roads.

On December 23, the town was awarded a $600,000 NYS DEC WQIP grant to replace and expand our deteriorating salt shed this year.  Hopefully construction can begin late this summer.

Our new 10 wheeled snowplow truck will be delivered early this month.  It was ordered in the spring of 2022.  Thankfully, our highway crew have been able to maintain the other trucks until this one finally arrived.

It was noted in December that Cordelio Power was awarded NYSERDA grants for solar installations in both Scipio and Ledyard.  Final contracts are still being negotiated.

While snow fall thus far have been quite minimal, please be reminded that the town has right of way for 25 feet from the center of the road.  Therefore, snow may be needed to be plowed well unto your yard, if necessary, in order to maintain safe road maintenance.

On December 18, a special meeting and public hearing was held to approve the application for a Restore New York Grant.  The Aurora Community Development Group LLC, a debt free New York State corporation, founded by Christopher J. Colloca, DC, PhD, an Oswego native who attended Ithaca College (BS 1990) plans to convert the former Emily Howland Elementary School into a commercial boutique hotel and banquet facility, winery and vineyard.  Projected restoration begins at the end of this year with a grand opening to be held in November 2027.

As you may recall, the town of Scipio has decided to no longer mail semiannual newsletters.  Please reach out to others by encouraging them to read this updated news.  Also, we encourage everyone to sign up for news updates at the bottom of the opening page on the town web site.  As always,  feel free to call me if you have any questions.

Gary Mutchler, Scipio town supervisor, 315-730-3638

Public Notice

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that the Preliminary Budget of the Town of Scipio, Cayuga County, State of New York for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2025 has been filed in the Town of Scipio Office, 3705 State Rte. 34, Scipio Center, NY 13147 where it is available for inspection by any interested person.

Town Clerk office hours are Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 pm – 5:30pm. This document is also accessible on the town’s website www.townofscipio.com.

FURTHER NOTICE is GIVEN that the Scipio Town Board will meet, and review said Preliminary Budget and hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, November 13, 2024 in the Town Office, 3705 State Rte. 34, Scipio Center, NY 13147 at 7:00 pm to run concurrently with the regular monthly meeting and at such meeting any person may be heard in favor or against any items contained therein.

FURTHER NOTICE is GIVEN that pursuant to section 108 of Town Law, the following are proposed salaries of the Town Officials:

Supervisor - $9,700.00

Councilperson - $2,250.00

Town Clerk/ Tax Collector/ Registrar - $18,200.00

Highway Superintendent - $69,500.00

By the Order of the Town Board of the Town of Scipio.

Ann M. Robson, Town Clerk

Energy Programs Offered by NYSERDA

Below is some valuable information about energy programs offered by NYSERDA that may be beneficial for farmers.

Agriculture Energy Audit Program (AEAP) (link): This program offers NY state farmers no-cost energy audits to help identify energy efficiency opportunities on their farm. 

AEAP - Fact Sheet.pdf

Download PDF • 658KB

REAP Technical Assistance Program (RTAP) (link): This program has been designed to assist farmers at no cost to make applications to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). If awarded, farmers can receive up to 50% of the total project cost.

RTAP Program Fact Sheet 2024.pdf

Download PDF • 2.10MB

Energy Best Practices for Agriculture (link): The best practices have been developed to help educate producers about energy efficient technologies, how they function, the average cost, as well as an average payback in years.