Village of Roslyn Estates trustees unanimously approved a $1,480,538 budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which includes a 1.37-percent decrease in the tax levy and 7.1-percent increase in spending from the current fiscal year.
The budget also calls for a 3.2-percent decrease in the village tax rate, Village of Roslyn Estates Mayor Jeffrey Schwartzberg said.
“We’re pleased to be able to present this tax reduction,” Schwartzberg said.
The tax rate for residents, Schwartzberg said, would be $100.23 per $100 assessed value, compared to the current fiscal year’s tax rate of $103.56 per $100 assessed value.
Schwartzberg said the tax reduction would apply to about “95-percent” of the village’s residents, saying that if any homeowner adds on to their house their assessed value may go up.
The budget calls for $1,058,770.81 to be raised in real estate taxes, compared to $1,073,480 in the current fiscal year.
Village Clerk/Treasurer Bryan Rivera also said the assessed values for utilities in the village, which are done through the state, has increased during the current fiscal year. That increase, Rivera said, helped to offset the decrease in homeowner’s taxes.
The village was also able to decrease the tax rate for residents due to increased construction in the village, which according to Rivera will bring in about $95,000 in permit fees.
“The fees from that will help make up that difference,” Rivera said.
The village has also completed paying off a bond that cost $90,000 a year, Rivera said.
“That’s $90,000 a year we don’t have to pay anymore,” he said.
The budget also calls for a $85,000 in attorney fees, an increase of $35,000 from the current fiscal year, which Rivera said is a consequence of recent legal troubles in the village.
“This year we had the Roslyn Water District issue,” Rivera said. “Also, we had a couple of court cases where the village prosecutor had to spend a lot of time working on it. We just want to be prepared for that.”
The budget also calls for $106,000 in road renewals, an increase of $75,000 from the current fiscal year. Rivera said that money would be reimbursed by the state and a grant from Nassau County.
The budget also calls for a $2,000 increase in snow removal supply expenditures, which Rivera calls a “steady increase.”
The budget runs from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015.
