New Hyde Park tax levy set at 2.04 percent
Number crunching is over for the Village of New Hyde Park after the board of trustees adopted the 2013-14 village budget on Tuesday, April 16. The final total budget is set at $5,853,068.67, which represents a $31,433.51 increase from last year.
The village will not pierce the state-imposed 2 percent tax cap, affirming a 2.04 ($4,061,113.39) tax levy increase. On April 2, the village presented a tentative 2.23 percent tax levy, which mirrored New York State’s allowable limit to New Hyde Park.
Residents will pay an additional $29.16 per year. New Hyde Park voted to allow the village to exceed the cap if needed on Jan. 15.
The village could not raise the levy more than about $90,000. Mayor Robert Lofaro announced the year-to-year tax levy increase was $81,314. The first draft of the budget was approximately $7,000 more than the official increase.
“I’d like to thank everyone that was involved in the budget process,” Lofaro said. “Passing the budget only means that we set what the tax rate is and that’s the amount we’re going to collect in taxes. It doesn’t mean we’re going to spend any of this money, or we may spend more, or less. As the year progresses, we’ll see. The budget is a guideline, but we obviously want to remain within the budget.”
The village’s objective is to come into next year with a surplus, not a deficit, according to Lofaro. New Hyde Park’s tax rate went up 2.94 percent ($0.58). The tentative budget originally called for a 3.9 percent tax rate increase.
Health expenses in New Hyde Park are projected to increase $5,196.72 ($688,642.72) from last year. Village officials noted that some employees have to contribute between 10 and 20 percent for medical, dental and vision expenses.
Retirement expenses are expected to total $387,615; a $29,901 increase from the prior budget. Other notable employee benefit budget lines like workers compensation took a dive, topping off at $143,096.45, a $1,903.55 drop.
Village revenues dipped to $1,791,955.28, a 2.71 percent decrease from last year. Salaries saw a 2.94 percent increase in adopted budget, with the village’s employee contract set to expire on May 30, 2014.
