Great Neck Village adopts ‘flatline’ budget

Janelle Clausen
Great Neck Village Clerk-Treasurer Joe Gill, right, explains the budget to constituents. (Photo by Janelle Clausen)

The Village of Great Neck adopted a new budget on Tuesday, showing little overall change in revenue and expenditures.

The $9,791,194 village budget is about $40,000 less than last year’s. Officials described it as a balanced budget based on fiscal responsibility and economic growth.

“We’re continuing to hold the line on spending,” Joe Gill, Great Neck village clerk-treasurer, said.

“This is a flatline budget,” he added.

Three-quarters of the village’s revenue, or $7,305,677, comes from property taxes, while fees and fines contribute 11 percent to the budget. State aid, appropriated reserves, interest and rents and other taxes make up the rest.

While the average assessment value of a home went up from $813,000 to $841,000, the annual tax levy will increase by only about $36, Gill said.

The current village tax burden averages $2,417, he added.

The village’s savings will come from using part-timers for the village judiciary and parking services, consolidating offices for the village judiciary, energy savings from LED lights and a reduction of debt service payments.

Court revenue declined due to the issuing of fewer summonses as the village wanted to take a friendlier approach, officials said.

The  payment in lieu of taxes from Avalon, which developed luxury housing in the village, is more than double what it was last year. It mostly offsets a $75,000 reduction in state consolidated highway aid.

The village has $8,367,324 worth of debt, but Gill said that is a small percentage  based on its $2,421,230,407 assessment value.

“Being under $10 million is very healthy for a village our size,” Gill said.

The projected fund balance, essentially the village’s rainy day fund accumulated over fiscal years, is currently $4,154,127, about 42.2 percent of the new budget.

“When you spend more than your revenues in a year, you have to spend that fund balance,” Gill said, noting that the village had done that in the past. In fiscal 2016-17, for example, the operating expenses exceeded revenues by $357,753.

New items in the budget include a renovation of Village Hall, digitization of records and the installation of LED lights.

Share this Article