Trustees Agree to Consider Ways to Reduce Tax Increase

The Village Board covered much ground on Tuesday night March 13 when they approved the preliminary Village Budget as well as the funding for the first town-wide revaluation in 44 years.

At the Finance Committee before the Board meeting, trustees heard a presentation of the proposed 2012-13 Village Budget from Village Manager Al Gatta, subsequent to filing it with the Village Clerk on March 16th. Changes can be made to the budget until April 24th. The preliminary budget will be posted on the Village website for the public to review, available at the Scarsdale Library and copies can be requested from the Village Treasurer.

Gatta highlighted the following points:

The numbers:

The proposed 2012-13 Village budget is $48,899,129 which represents a 4.14% increase over the adopted 2011-12 Village Budget

The tax rate will increase by 5.49%

Though Trustees voted to override the tax cap, the proposed budget is only $419,000 or 1.3% above the allowable increase.

What’s included:

The Village budget includes $3,451,000 for the library, which is an increase of $91,000 or 2.7% over 2011-12. The line would have been even higher, but the library will use some of their reserves.

$48,000 is included for the older adult program at Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling and $242,175 for their youth programs. In addition, financing for the Teen Center is maintained at $87,500.

The proposed budget includes debt service on the $1.1 million that will need to be borrowed to do the village-wide revaluation.

There is $762,500 in the budget for road repair and repaving. Any surpluses from this year’s Village budget will also be added to this budget line. Due to the mild winter, the Village saved considerably on salt, equipment use and overtime so there should be surplus funds available for roadways.

In addition:

Fees: The annual fee for parking at the Christie Place Garage will increase from $1,250 to $1,450 and fees at Freightway Garage will go from $840 per year to $890 per year. Water rates will also go up.

Funding for the Fox Meadow storm water project was included in the 2011-12 budget and the work is expected to begin in April. Design work is currently underway for a similar project to alleviate flooding along the Sheldrake River.

Before the close of the meeting, Trustee Bob Harrison proposed two ways to decrease the 5.49% tax increase for Village residents. He suggested that the Village delay the bonds for the revaluation as this will be a multi-year process and the funds to pay the vendor will not be required immediately. He also suggested that the Village’s funds balance, now at $6.1 million or 14% of the total budget could be reduced. He suggested a contribution of $200,000 to $300,000 from the fund balance to the operating budget to reduce the tax increase. In response, Trustee Steves said he did not find “either of these proposals objectionable” and Trustee Mark said, “these are worthwhile suggestions.” The Trustees appeared to favor his proposals and will review them at a March 19th meeting.