The annual meeting of the New York Association of Towns, which takes place at the Marriott Marquis overlooking Manhattan's Times Square this year, is where your supervisor, your town board members and your highway superintendents go to learn the latest wrinkles in state law as it effects your pocket, via your tax bill. And meet fellow municipal officers to hear all about how others solve the problems facing all our municipalities, as well as newer challenges coming down the pike.

This year, there's even a new app for attendees to keep track of all the programs and panels they might want to attend. And there are a lot of them.

For example, "Understanding the Highway Budget" will be on the 5th floor of the hotel in the Belasco/Broadhurst rooms at 3 p.m. on Monday. "With budgets tighter than ever, understanding this department is critical," says the program blurb. Insights are offered from the Cornell Local Roads Program workshop to help town boards understand the highway budget, which involves trucks, contract employees, salt and lots of other equipment. Plus all that's involved with benefits.

Everyone agrees the biggest issues are all wrapped around the state's 2 percent tax cap. Nilon says, "We're resigned to see the tax cap stay in place for a while, but the issue we need to address is that capital improvements are still within that 2 percent formula. School districts are exempt in that area on capital improvement, but not so towns and cities, and that means they basically cannot do any kind of capital improvement." So?

"We want to be treated like the school districts," says Nilon.

Now there's another point to be made here about the tax cap. You've heard the phrase "two percent" a few times by now. But it's really 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lowest. And nowadays we're in a period of low inflation, meaning that for the current year the actual cap is at 0.12 percent, which is like saying zero. In other words it compels a zero increase in taxes.

For a supervisor and town board trying to build a budget, this means serious problems. Because contracts continue, prices go up, and costs rise even though that tax cap imposition from Albany does not, things get cut.

Nilon and others at this year's Association of Towns gathering will be working to put capital projects, such as infrastructure repair and replacement, into the budgets of municipalities in a way that takes them out of the tax cap arena and into a similar arrangement as seen for schools, who are aided in various ways by the state to provide "building money" for things like roofs for their buildings, HVAC, and new and better equipment. Without such a change, very few towns— and possibly none — can undertake any significant capital projects.

So, how do these changes take effect? That's where towns' elected officials, brought together at the coming NYC-based meeting, comes in handy.

"These are the people who provide the services we all depend on," says Nilon. "These are your town boards. And while there is financial aid coming down from the state, not much gets to us."

There is state aid to towns, in various forms, but Nilon explains that it hasn't kept pace with inflation, and she notes rather grimly, "there are big issues, infrastructure issues."

Attending from our area will be most of our supervisors, many town board members and highway superintendents.

Lenny Distel, supervisor for the Town of Wawarsing, notes his concern for the tax cap issue.

"It is our major concern... it's getting very difficult to meet that cap. What are we going to do when we use up all our fund balance?" he asked while raising the possibility of relief from unfunded mandates, instead of simple cuts to services. "There has to be more consolidation of government at the local level, and consolidation of services. It's getting too costly to run two separate governments here in Wawarsing/Ellenville."

Distel added that he intends to stay an extra day at the big meeting this year, for the Wednesday session to see what resolutions get adopted.

The Town Association meeting has a second purpose beyond educating town board members. This is where towns put forth resolutions to be sent up to Albany to spark debate and even new laws.

One area that Distel and other supervisors will be keen to learn more about are regulations for solar farms and solar arrays in general.

"We're actually updating our comprehensive study now. We have to address solar farms," the Wawarsing supervisor further noted. "Nine years ago, when we did this the last time, solar wasn't even a dream."

Charles Carnes, supervisor of the Town of Crawford will also be checking on solar.

"Yes, solar and budget issues, the tax cap, those are the things I'll be looking into." Carnes said while noting how he tends to take a pretty free form approach to the conference. "You can just go in to any meeting, it's all kind of an open forum. So I'll talk to some of the others, I'll probably go to a panel on comprehensive plans, since we're doing that this year. I usually get into one discussing grants, and I usually do a human resources one, too. Things are always changing and it's a good way to learn about what's going on. I move around and see what ones are most relevant to the town."

Distel, too, will be taking the opportunity to talk to other supervisors and hear about their issues, because chances are, sooner rather than later, their issues can become our issues, too.

More on what comes out of it all in our future issues.