The meeting may have been short, but the news was positive from the Village of Thomaston on Monday.
At a regular meeting of the village board of trustees, a tentative budget plan which provides for a zero percent tax increase next year was adopted and approved for public hearing.
The plan calls for total appropriations for fiscal year 2011-12 to be $1,862,800, slightly less than last year’s adopted budget of $1,864,738, which should come as good news to local residents.
“Through belt-tightening, including layoffs, total annual appropriations have declined approximately 8 percent over the last three years,” said Village Administrator Barbara Daniels.
To help trim costs, the village closed the Thomaston Village Court and transferred all cases to Nassau County and replaced a retiring full-time employee with a part-timer.
“We’ve had very little increases and they have done the best to keep costs down,” said Daniels, regarding the efforts of the Thomaston board of trustees to cut spending.
The consistent commitment to frugality by village officials is netting long-term results.
Daniels said the average annual village tax rate increase, which includes the proposed 2011-12 budget, is just 0.78 percent over the previous five years.
The average annual village tax rate increase over the previous 10-year period is just 1.9 percent, significantly below the average annual rate of inflation for our area, according to Daniels.
The budget proposal will now move to a public hearing at the village hall during the next regular meeting set for Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
