LIBERTY - On Monday, October 16, a public hearing was held for the 2018 Preliminary Budget before being approved by the Town of Liberty board. Acting Supervisor Russell Reeves noted that this is the fourth year in a row that the Town of Liberty has had a zero percent increase in the tax rate. He thanked all of the departments for their hard work and diligence in keeping costs down. He also noted that all contractual raises had been adhered to and that the reserves and accounts all have healthy fund balances. The budget figures also show that the town is about $194,000 below the tax cap.

Public hearings were also held for the following sewer districts: Loomis, Youngs Hill, Infirmary Road, and Swan Lake-Briscoe Consolidated. No public comments were made except for a suggestion that hearing notices be posted on the town's website prior to the hearing. Board members agreed that this was a good suggestion that could be implemented easily.

Cheryl Gerow, the town's Budgeting and Accounting Coordinator, has a new title. She is now the Director of Finance, replacing Earl Bertsch in that position. The board also authorized the hiring of up to two new employees for winter snow removal to replace employees who have recently left. In a related matter, the board discussed the purchase of a sander for the Parks and Recreation department now that winter access to the town parks has been expanded. The board felt that since the Water Department would be at or near the same locations, they could handle the additional sanding with their equipment for the time being.

Two 3-D composite welcome signs are being purchased with Renaissance grant funds. One will be placed on Route 52 entering the town from the east. The other will be placed to be seen as visitors approach Liberty from Monticello.

The town is looking to improve their property maintenance code. They will be reviewing the code used by Fusco Engineering. After review, the town may decide to adopt all or part of it for their use.

Several Liberty High School Students attended the town meeting for their senior Government and Political Science classes. Ian Cody commented, “It's interesting to see how few people show up to town board meetings.” Dara Schiff added, “It's odd to see how few people actually make the decisions for the town.” After the meeting, Priya Patel remarked that she felt the board was “efficient and productive.”