Village of Roslyn Estates trustees on Monday approved a $1,500,075 budget for 2016-17 that calls for a $51,330 — or 2.45 percent — increase in spending over the current year.
The budget also calls for the village to pierce the state-mandated tax cap with a 2.5 percent increase in the tax levy.
Trustees had approved a resolution in March allowing the village to exceed the tax cap, which was set a 0.12 percent.
But Deputy Mayor Jeffrey Lindenbaum said that tax bills will likely decrease due to a 2.31 percent increase in the assessed value of properties within the village.
He said the increase in the budget is due a $50,000 increase in spending for major road repair work the village expects to undertake in the summer of 2017.
Lindenbaum said that since the $50,000 probably won’t be enough to cover all the needed road work the village might need to issue bonds in the upcoming year.
“We want to get to a place that we do annual road work in the village without having to go out and issue a bond,” he said. “I think we have managed to keep the tax rate levied on our residents low.”
Lindenbaum said the village is awaiting a presentation by the county in June to better assess the village’s road needs.
“We’re still waiting for the presentation from a county representative who will tell us which of our roads needs repairs,” Lindenbaum said. “But we some of our roads definitely need the repairs.”
Mayor Jeffrey Schwartzberg said although village roads assessed by Nassau County were rated six and above, the village still has to fix the ones damaged over the winter.
“The rating is good for us but some of our roads still need the repairs in some places,” Schwartzberg said.
He said the village is also expecting a decrease in housing construction-related fees, budgeting for a $6,500 decrease in ARB fees down from last year’s $11,500 and a $75,000 decrease in permits from $140,000.
“We expect construction fees will be down next year and fire service fees, state mandated pension contributions to go up,” Lindenbaum said.
“This is a trend we’ve seen in the past couple of years with the decline in construction fees so were able to budget adequately for it,” he said.
The budget also calls for an $8,427 increase in fire service fees and a $2,500 increase in pension service payments.
“The water and fire district raises their fees every year and that is something that’s out of our control,” Lindenbaum said.
Lindenbaum said as a result of expected decreases in some revenues, the village planned to reduce spending for attorney fees and building inspectors.
At the Monday meeting, trustees Brian Feingold took the oath of office and Lindenbaum was selected by Schwartzberg to serve as the village’s deputy mayor.
