The Williston Park Board of Trustees on Monday night approved a $5.74 million budget for 2014-15 that is $40,000 less than a budget the board had presented on April 7.
“We decided to cut where we could cut. And we decided we could all live with a 3.6 percent increase,” Williston Park Deputy Mayor Kevin Rynne said of the increase in spending.
The revised budget calls for a 3.6 percent increase in the tax levy, which is still in excess of the state-mandated tax cap of 1.48 percent for municipalities.
The board had given itself the authority to exceed to tax cap prior to presenting a 4.45 percent increase in the tax levy in March.
Rynne said the board felt the 4.45 percent budget increase the board previously proposed was too high.
“In the times we’re in now, 4 percent was too much. Do we really need a new pick-up truck? We can live with what we have,” Rynne said.
Village Clerk Julie Kain said the board was able to reduce the budget by cutting the village’s contingency fund from $106,000 to $86,000 and highway maintenance from $25,000 to $15,000 with the elimination of a planned purchase of a new pick-up truck.
Village Trustee Teresa Thomann, the lone trustee to vote against a local law allowing the board to exceed the tax cap, said the trustees reached a consensus to cut the budget.
“The objective is to keep it as manageable as possible,” Thomann said. “I don’t think 4 percent is a reasonable number in the context of other things our residents are facing
This is the second consecutive year the Williston Park board has exceeded the state cap. Last year, the board approved a 2.44 percent increase in the 2013-14 budget that called for a 4.58 percent increase in the tax levy.
Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar had defended the board’s decision to exceed the cap in April when the original budget was approved, pointing out that a 1.48 percent budget rise would limit the village to a $68,000 year-to-year spending increase when it faces a $110,000 increase in debt service.
“It seems like Albany is telling us what to do while it can’t manage its own budget,” Ehrbar said.
The largest singe increase in the proposed village budget is interest payments on bonds, which rose from $46,025 to $161,496. Payment of principal on the bonds is projected to rise to $189,780 from $155,000.
Employee benefit costs also account for increases in the village budget, with a projected overall year-to-year increase from $1.39 million to $1.42 million. Costs for state retirement fund contributions will rise year-to-year from $320,332 to $337,187 and workers compensation insurance will also rise from $155,382 to $173,600.
The village’s total public safety budget is projected to increase year-to-year from $528,185 to $575,726. The fire department budget is projected to rise from $341,110 to $357,151. Costs for village code enforcers also will rise from $55,000 to $75,000.
The sanitation budget is projected to increase year-to-year from $937,000 to $967,000.
The village also plans to increase year-to-year spending on the fire department by $45,000 to $357,151 – with $10,000 of that reflecting increased insurance costs.
On another fiscal front, the board approved applying for $206,000 in federal community development funds after a brief hearing on Monday night.
Ehrbar said $50,000 would be used to transform the hockey rink at Kelleher Field into a playground for the handicapped. He said $165,000 would be used for an emergency generator for Village Hall.
In other developments:
• Ehrbar said oral arguments are to be heard on the water rates lawsuits between East Williston and Williston Park in New York State Appellate Court, with East Williston trustees contending rate increases their neighbor village has imposed over the last three years are unreasonable. He said a ruling in the cases could be expected within four to six weeks after the arguments are presented.
“We’re getting close to a resolution in the courts,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said East Williston Mayor David Tanner told him last Friday, “We should talk,” referring to the water rates suit.
• Village Department of Public Works Superintendent Keith Bunnell said the village’s current $2.26 million road repairs project is making progress, with work on Cushing Avenue completed and the roadbed of Stratford Avenue recently milled in preparation for resurfacing.
