Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Catskill 2021 town budget will decrease spending by 1.8 percent over last year, but the town and village residents will see an increase in their taxes. The town board adopted the $6.85 million spending plan on November 3, which is more than $283,000 over the tax cap. Taxes will increase by about $65 for village residents and $55 for town residents per $100,000 of assessed value. “I think this was an extra challenging year for all municipalities,” town Supervisor Dale Finch said, referring to the pandemic. The town is facing a $350,000 revenue loss from the ambulance service. “This is no reflection on the people that work over there,” Finch said. “It’s not any fault of anybody there.” Columbia Memorial Health reported a 40 percent decrease in emergency room visits in June. The town court also experienced a loss of revenue during the pandemic, Finch said, and the town anticipates a 20 percent cut in state aid, as well. In addition to increasing the tax levy, the town is also allocating $106,000 from its fund balance. Non-essential spending was stopped at the start of the pandemic and the town also imposed a hiring freeze. “We were as proactive as possible and curtailed expenses as much as possible,” Finch said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.