FALCONER — A fiscal plan with a double-digit tax rate percentage decrease has been passed in the town of Ellicott.

On Monday, the Ellicott Town Board passed its 2021 budget following a public hearing, which included no public participation.

The approved 2021 budget includes a tax rate for the town outside of the villages that will lower by 15%, or 82 cents, and will now be $4.75 per $1,000 assessed property value. The proposed tax rate for both the village of Celoron and Falconer will decrease by 13%, or 61 cents, and will be $4.66 per $1,000 assessed property value. According to the state Department of Taxation and Finances, the tax rate is determined by dividing the tax levy by the total taxable assessed value of all property in a jurisdiction.

In the approved budget, the tax levy will increase by 2%, or $65,188, going from $2,614,476 this year to $2,679,664 next year. According to the state Department of Taxation and Finances, the tax levy is the amount raised through property taxes.

Patrick McLaughlin, town supervisor, said the preliminary budget was approved by the board without any changes.

“In respect, most of the department heads are fully aware of the hardships we are facing with the current situation and with sales tax (revenues) up in the air. They were all willing to sharpen their pencils when it comes to their budgets and that helped us tremendously,” he said.

In other business, McLaughlin said the town will not be setting Halloween trick-or-treat hours this year. He said the village of Falconer will have trick-or-treat hours from 5:30-7 p.m. and Celoron will be from 6-8 p.m.

“We just want to remind everyone to follow the protocols with kids and adults wearing mask and to social distance if you choose to trick-or-treat,” he said.

The board approved Local Law No. 2 during the meeting, which will require a permit when a contractor is working in the town’s right-of-way.

Last month, McLaughlin said contractors doing work on private property have expanded into the public right-of-way and caused damaged several times over the years. He said, through the years, the town has probably paid thousands to fix issues created by private contractors in the public right-of-way.

McLaughlin said the new law will create a process where contractors will have to acquire a permit from the town if any work will be done on the public right-of-way. He said there will be a permit fee and a fine structure established for violations and work done without the permit.