The Sands Point Board of Trustees approved an $11.8 million budget for the general fund and $2.7 million budget for the water fund at a meeting on Tuesday.
The budget was unchanged from how it was presented at the last village meeting in March. It passed unanimously and with no further discussion from the trustees, as they felt that residents had no issue with the budget.
“We didn’t have any comments at the public hearing [in March] and we have not subsequently received any comments,” Mayor Ed Adler said.
The budget for the general fund was up almost $400,000 from the year before, or about 3.5 percent. More than half of the general expense fund goes to police personnel, benefits and expenses.
The budget for the water fund was up about $250,000 from the prior year, or about 10 percent. The biggest new expense would be the purchase of a new water truck. Despite these increases, village officials explained at a previous meeting that the village will remain below the state tax cap for the seventh consecutive year.
After the budget passed, the trustees approved a few other expenses. Among them was a police cruiser, to replace another vehicle that had 95,000 miles. Deputy Mayor Marc Silbert said the cost of the vehicle was already in the 2019 budget.
Sands Point will also replace an emergency generator outside Village Hall, at a cost of $11,000. Adler said that fluid was leaking out of a hole in the generator, and that this replacement cost was already in the 2019 budget.
“This is what happens when you wait too long to replace that,” Adler said.
The board also voted to extend the moratorium on dock building in the village. The village put the moratorium in place last October in order to study the coast and update the village code. The moratorium will be in place for another six months.
“This is an ongoing process,” Adler said.
Finally, the village addressed its work with D&B Engineers and Architects PC of Woodbury. The company, which also had contracts with Manorhaven and Nassau County, was one of several firms indicted last week in New York City on corruption charges involving bribery, business fraud and political campaign contributions.
Adler said the village would examine its contracts with the company, but said the legal issues stemmed from one executive in the company who had never worked with the village.
“I didn’t even know the name,” Adler said.
