The Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees on Tuesday unanimously approved a $13.1 million budget for 2014-15, an $800,000 increase from the current fiscal year.
The budget calls for a tax levy increase of 8 percent, which the state Comptroller’s office considers to be in violation of the state-mandated tax cap, Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said.
But Kreitzman said the levy should not be considered in violation of the state-mandated tax cap.
The calculations of the state Comptroller’s Office, Kreitzman said, were no longer valid following the village’s consolidation of its sewer system with the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District.
“For our next budget, the tax cap is totally irrelevant,” he said in a statement.
“When a municipality ceases to provide a service, the office of the state comptroller is required to reduce its tax cap levy,” Kreitzman continued.
The budget calls for $6,532,239 to be raised by taxes on home and commercial properties – a decrease of $1,437,729 from the current fiscal year.
Village of Great Neck Clerk/Treasurer Joe Gill said the total tax levy would have to be about $5.5 million to not exceed the tax cap, according to the comptroller’s calculations.
“But we know it takes at least $6 million to operate the village,” Gill said.
Kreitzman said even if the village were to not raise taxes from the current fiscal year, the comptroller’s calculations would still show an increase in the tax levy.
“While it may be in accordance with the state law, it is wrong,” he said.
Kreitzman, responding to questions from residents, said that this problem is not unique to the village and that he has spoken with other municipalities who have had similar experiences. Kreitzman said several villages do not consolidate their services for the sole reason of avoiding this problem.
The average homeowner, Kreitzman said, will see an increase of $181 from the current fiscal year. Non-homestead properties, Kreitzman said, will increase by $768 in the next fiscal year.
Kreitzman also said the village has to deal with revenue lost to tax-exempt organizations, which he said comprises 20 percent of the village’s properties.
“We have four public schools; a number of parks, some very large; more than 15 synagogues and churches; and two firehouses,” Kreitzman said.
The budget also calls for an increase in state-mandated costs, including a $58,000 increase in pension contributions and a $58,000 increase in health insurance costs.
Kreitzman also said the village has “been subjected to no, or very minor, increases in state aid revenues.”
Although the village is”out of the sewer business,” Kreitzman said, the budget still calls for the payment of a bond that went to improvements of the now defunct sewer plant.
Kreitzman said those expenses total $3,755,000.
Kreitzman also said the $885,000 award from AvalonBay Communities, which two weeks ago was approved for tax breaks to build a 191-apartment complex on East Shore Road, has “been earmarked for community benefits such as improvements to our Middle Neck Road parking lots, signage and sidewalks.”
The budget runs from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015.
Reach reporter Anthony O’Reilly by e-mail at oreilly@theislandnow.com, by phone at 516.307.1045 x203 and on Twitter @ reilly_anthony. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
