The Town of Springfield passed its budget for 2005 unanimously Monday night.

The town budgeted $444,000 for next year, $1,400 less than it budgeted for 2004.

Town Supervisor Tom Armstrong said the budget would have been lower had it not been for the rise in oil prices and the increased percentage the town was mandated to pay towards the NYS retirement system.

Armstrong said the price of oil rose from $0.48 to $1.57 per gallon over the last three years.

The town is expected to pay 14.5 percent of retired town employees' retirement checks next year. It only paid 2 percent of their checks last year.

During the public hearing, some residents were concerned that not enough money was budgeted to cover the possible repair costs of highway equipment.

Armstrong said he budgeted $40,000 into the machinery fund to cover any unforeseen highway expenses. If that money is not used, he said, it can roll over to the next year and help pay for new equipment or the repairs of existing equipment, as has happened in the past.

Though some residents were concerned $40,000 was not enough to cover the full year's unforeseen expenses, others were hesitant to raise taxes just for the sake of being safe.

Armstrong said he did not think it was necessary to raise taxes. He thinks $40,000 is sufficient.

"I'm trying to keep the budget the same," Armstrong said.

Some of the public was also concerned with the increased salaries of the supervisor, clerk and highway superintendent.

Councilman Daniel Rosen said Springfield is the only town in the area where the supervisor makes more than the clerk. He said, because the responsibilities of Armstrong have lessened, his wage should reflect that.

The board voted unanimously to raise the supervisor's salary to $7,000 and the Clerk's salary to $7,500.

The board reluctantly voted to increase the highway superintendent's salary to $34,000, up from $31,000.

Councilman Jim Willsey again brought up the point that Armstrong is not properly reconciling checks and not keeping proper records, as noted in a recent audit.

"I have had a check out since the early part of the year and you haven't asked me about it yet," Willsey said.

Armstrong said he knew about the check but didn't ask Willsey for it.

Willsey addressed the public, assuring them he was only continually bringing up record keeping issues because he wanted to make sure the town was keeping records correctly, not to cause a disturbance in the meeting. He said the town needs to make sure it follows the law when keeping records.

"We should be following the recommendations in the audit," Willsey said.

This angered Armstrong, however, and the board decided to let the issue go until the December meeting.

Later in the meeting, Armstrong gave Willsey some of the employment records from the past few years that he had requested in the October meeting to prove that he had been keeping thorough records of town employees.

Willsey said the printout given to him was not thorough enough to figure out if all employee records were handled properly. The printout showed record of all employees who had been paid through the town's private payroll company. It did not, however, show record of all the employees that had been paid by the town because Armstrong pays some town employees out of a separate account that he has access to.

"I gave you what you wanted," a frustrated Armstrong told Willsey.

"No you did not," replied Willsey. "I have nothing to compare it to."

A frustrated Armstrong said he would bring in all the payroll records, but a vote was not passed to have him do so.

Though Willsey offered to pick up the employment records from Armstrong's home, no solid agreement was made as to how to handle the situation.

In other business:

BULLETT The board voted to abandon Bartholomew Road in East Springfield, effective May 1, 2005. The road will be abandoned for six years, when it will not be serviced in any way by the town. After six years, the road will become the property of the landowner who owns both sides of the road.

While the road is in the qualified abandonment period, it cannot be obstructed. However, a gate can be put across it as long as it is not locked.

In other business, the board:

ä decided to seek bids to complete the heating, flooring and sewage for the new highway building. Work on the building will not start until next spring.

• voted to contract David Merzig of Oneonta as the new town attorney. He will serve the town board and the planning board next year. Merzig is currently the attorney for the town of Richfield Springs. He was recommended to the town board by its current attorney, Michael Trosset.

• made no mention of the dump truck that was up for town auction because nobody had made a bid.