The Williston Park Village Board recently approved a $5.53 million budget for 2013-14 that calls for a tax levy that exceeds the state-mandated tax cap.
“There’s no one specific number that would put us over the cap. It’s a combination of increases,” said Village of Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar.
The major budget driver, Ehrbar said, was the year-to year rise in New York State retirement benefits to $320,332 from $277,687 and health benefits to $550,000 from $488,895, for village employees.
“It was a factor in going over the 2 percent tax cap. If we made a couple of cuts, we would have been under the cap,” Ehrbar said.
The budget, which represents a 2.44 percent increase over the $5.39 million budget for 2012-13, calls for a tax levy of $4.48 million, a 4.58 percent increase over the current $4.29 million levy.
Although the levy exceeds the state-mandated tax cap, the board had enacted a local law to enable it to exceed the cap at a previous board meeting.
Ehrbar said the board anticipates beginning a roadwork program in the fall, using $200,000 from the state-funded Consolidated Highway Improvement Program for engineering fees to determine priorities in road repairs needed in the village.
“Part of going over the 2 percent tax cap is where putting in place a long-range plan to take care of the roads and the infrastructure,” Ehrbar said.
Ehrbar said the village requested community development funds for $15,000 engineering study to determine the size of a bond it would seek to cover the cost of roadwork and infrastructure repairs, including improvements at the Williston Park Fire Department firehouse. He estimated the roadwork and infrastructure improvements would cost approximately $2 million.
“Once we determine that, we’ll determine how much of a bond to do,” he said. “We need to do this roadwork and we couldn’t put it off.”
The cost of $1 million in bonds would cost approximately $80,000 in debt service. He noted village debt service is coming down year-to-year by $85,000.
Ehrbar said the four village trustees voted unanimously in favor of the budget, but the consensus was not easily achieved.
“There was a lot of hard work and a lot of give and take,” he said.
Village revenues are projected to fall year-to-year in several categories, including: justice court fines, to $130,000 from $160,000; parking lot fees, to $25,000 from $30,000; and sales tax, to $20,247 from $23,000. State aid mortgage tax, money the village realizes from home sales, is expected to increase to $75,000 from $60,000.
Total water fund appropriations, a separate budget supported by fees paid by residential and commercial water users, are projected to rise by 2.33 percent to $1,654,277 from the current $1,616,664.
Municipal swimming pool appropriations, also a separate budget, are projected to fall by 10.39 percent year-to-year to $391,735 from $437,150.
