Village of Flower Hill trustees have introduced a $3.4 million budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year that includes a 6.46 percent rise in spending from its 2013-14 appropriations and a 1.97 percent decrease in the overall taxes the village intends to collect.
“We’re in great shape,” Mayor Elaine Phillips said during the board’s budget work session on Tuesday.
Trustees said the village has budgeted for $2,946,728 in expenditures, while paying $509,345 toward fire contracts with the Port Washington Fire Department and Roslyn Fire Company.
The village’s other fire protection provider, the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department, bills directly to residents who live within the Manhasset section of Flower Hill. Flower Hill is comprised of parts of Roslyn, Manhasset and Port Washington.
The village intends to raise approximately 57 percent of its revenue from $1,953,968 in taxes, collecting the remaining $2,011,450 from county, state and federal grants as well as from permits and other fees.
Though trustees project $209,854 more in expenses than in 2013-14, Phillips said Flower Hill plans to match that figure in its non-tax revenue. The village’s tax rate is projected at $33.66.
“The fact is we actually reduced expenses in order to offset all these other increases,” Phillips said.
The largest spending increases, Phillips said, will come from a $664,829 highway budget that is $212,245 more than what was appropriated for 2013-14 because the village plans to begin improvement projects to its roads in the next fiscal year.
A proposed project to build a bicycle path through village roads that would lead to the Plandome train station and the nearby Munsey Park Elementary School would be funded primarily by applying for federal grants being controlled by the state, she said.
Phillips added that other major increases in expenditures come from factors beyond the village’s control, like employee benefits, sanitation and insurance.
Trustees said the village will receive $69,405 in state highway funding that will be added to $232,300 rolled over from 2013-14.
They also project a $209,000 increase in funds raised from its licenses and permits in addition to bringing in $13,000 more in non-property taxes.
“I really think it’s a nice tight budget,” said Trustee Robert McNamara. “Real tight, no wiggle room.”
