FORESTBURGH -- Parents and concerned residents packed the courtroom at Forestburgh Town Hall to speak out on the elimination of funding to the summer recreational program in 2020.

In the 2020 budget, the town has defunded part of the recreational program that included a camp.

“We just don't have the money,” said Forestburgh Town Supervisor Dan Hogue Jr.

The supervisor said the town board looked at every possible way to save the program, but they could not find the additional funds for it.

Due to the rising cost of running the town and funding state mandates, the town had to make budget cuts to avoid raising taxes next year.

According to the town, part of the reason the program was eliminated was for the ongoing tax certioraris. The town would need money on hand to settle the certioraris.

One concerned parent, Maria Pappas, has lived in Forestburgh for 16 years and her 10-year-old son, Michael, has been attending the camp since he was four.

When Pappas first heard of the budget cut, the board had already adopted the 2020 budget, and she could not voice her concerns before the vote.

“This matter should have been handled better,” said Pappas. “Not one person reached out to anyone who uses the camp - not a phone call or a letter or a knock on the door.”

Pappas continued, “Taking a very vital part of our family summer out of our town budget was not just to cut the budget, but a little bit of a knife in the heart.”

Hogue said all matters concerning the budget were discussed during previously held public hearings.

The board looked for places they could cut and trim in the budget, according to Hogue.

“We discussed multiple options. There's not a whole lot of options in a small town,” said Hogue.

Moreover, Hogue stated that the budget is strapped with expenses that are necessary for the town.

For example, the Highway Department would need a new truck, and Town Hall needs a new roof in 2020.

“It all adds up to taxes,” said Hogue.

For the $1.63 million 2020 Budget, the amount needed to be raised by taxes is $1.23 million.

Hogue also said the camp this year had received a large number of complaints.

Furthermore, the amount of campers has dwindled in the past couple of years, according to Hogue.

In 2019, there were 34 registered campers, and only 12 of them were actual Forestburgh residents. The remaining were grandchildren or relatives that were visiting.

Forestburgh residents who attend the camp go for free, only out of town residents pay a fee of $125 a week.

Forestburgh Councilman Steven Budofsky said that due to the budget constraints, many town employees are going without their scheduled pay raises.

Budofsky said not only did the recreation program receive less funding but the Highway Department reduced their personnel by one.

“We looked at where cuts would be the most effective in terms of keeping the taxes low,” said Budofsky.

The town's budget has a decrease of 1.18 percent of the amount needed to be raised by taxes compared to last year, which kept it under the two percent tax cap.

Forestburgh Councilwoman Karen Ellsweig said to run the summer camp would cost the town $2,600 a week, and that amount does not include the cost of running the town pool, which is used by both campers and residents.

Ellsweig said the town board would work on better communication with the public in the future.

Many residents began to bring ideas to the board on how they could save the program during the town board meeting.

“There's fundraising that could have been done, grant applications could have been sought, the Youth Bureau money could have been allocated differently,” said Pappas.

One concern many had was the failure to collect fees from non-Forestburgh campers in 2019.

“[It's] definitely a very good question. We have to look into [it],” said Hogue.

On the issue of town employees not getting raises, Brian Geringer felt that should not have affected the campers.

“That's an adult problem and has nothing to do with our kids,” said Geringer.

Moreover, Geringer said he realizes there were problems with the camp, but he would rather have an imperfect camp than no camp at all.

Hogue said in the past, the camp was run by parents who would volunteer and was that way up until the late 1990s until the camp grew, and staff needed to be hired.

Anthony Cardoso, Forestburgh Planning Board member, said that parents couldn't return to the volunteer role, and in most families, both parents work.

“No one has the time to run a camp on a volunteer basis,” said Cardoso.

In the end, Hogue said he appreciated that residents came out to show support at the town board meeting.

“We have people here, and it's a good thing because we hear ideas,” said Hogue.

One of those ideas was to form a committee of concerned parents to come up with ideas and solutions for the camp going forward.

“I'd love to have something come out of this - a program in some way, shape or form,” said Hogue.

The board voted to have Forestburgh Councilwoman Susan Parks-Landis as board liaison to the committee.

The committee will meet sometime in January 2020 to begin brainstorming ideas.