The Mineola Board of Trustees is not raising village taxes for the third year in a row, Mayor Scott Strauss said last Wednesday during a meeting when the board approved a $22.7 million budget for 2018-19.
The budget is about $600,000 more than the 2017-18 budget.
The board kept the tax levy flat without any gimmicks or bells and whistles, Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira said.
Pereira added that the village isn’t “nickel and diming” people in order to keep the tax levy from rising.
A larger tax base, strict spending controls and savings from debt service help fund the budget increase, according to village Clerk Joe Scalero.
The budget includes $20 million for the general fund, $2.47 million for the water fund, $774,953 for the swimming pool fund and $2.15 million for the library fund.
During the meeting the board also approved an application for more than $450,000 for community development funding in a proposal presented by Thomas V. Savino, president of Vision Accomplished and the village’s community development coordinator.
Now approved by the village, the application will be decided on by the county.
The board approved requests for $228,500 for commercial rehabilitation, $160,130 for streetscape improvements and $65,000 for planning, determination and design of municipal parking.
The commercial rehabilitation funds will go toward renovating facades of certain stores in the village. Savino said he will reach out to the owners of stores that qualify.
Strauss said he encourages businesses to take part because the better their stores look, the more customers will come in.
The streetscape improvements will go toward visually pleasing and uniform signs that will direct residents and visitors to village attractions, such as the library and the parks, Savino said.
During the meeting the board also approved an amendment to a local law regarding traffic restrictions.
The law now states that parking restrictions are as designated on parking signs.
In the past, the board has updated an inventory in the local law as restrictions are made based on residential concern. As a result, some of the laws are outdated and do not match current parking signs, village Attorney John Gibbons said.
The amendment limits confusion, Gibbons said.
During the meeting the board also approved an application from Partha Chandra to create a tutoring center in the village.
Chandra’s center will be located at 464 Jericho Turnpike, the store previously owned by the Lanyard Ladies, a children’s birthday party service.
