The Garden City Board of Trustees approved a $55,791,023 operating budget at its April 7 meeting by a 7-0 vote (Trustee Theresa Trouvé was absent).
The spending plan requires a tax rate increase of 3.73 percent or an increase in tax of $224 to the average assessed single family home.
“From the beginning of the budget process, the board of trustees was faced with many difficult choices as to how best to balance the service expectations of the residents with the difficulty presented by the current economy,” Mayor John Watras said. “Preparation of the budget is a major responsibility that claims long hours of staff’s time and full time attention of the department heads and village administrator during several months of the year.”
The budget for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2013 was $54,408,356.
With $1 million in additional capital spending to help address infrastructure issues left behind by the harsh winter, along with additional provision for legal costs, the village exceeded the state imposed property tax levy cap by approximately 2 percent. Recognizing numerous resident complaints about road conditions, the board felt the village needed to address these issues in this budget. Without these particular spend items, the increase would have been well below the state tax cap levy.
Exceeding the cap this year will not have an impact on eligibility for any property tax rebates provided for in the recently approved New York State budget.
