The Mineola Village Board approved a $21.87 million budget for 2015-16 tonight, representing a .16 increase from last year.
“I think it’s a solid budget,” Mayor Scott Strauss said. “I think we’re on a financial ground that is getting better by the year.”
Village officials say Mineola will gain nearly $100,000 in incentives (payment in lieu of taxes) from ongoing developments in the village. These include the rising 315-unit apartment complex at 250 Old Country Rd., the nearly-finished 275-unit Mineola Modera across from the Nassau County Court complexes and its 36-dwelling senior housing component, Hudson House. The village will see $465,000 in revenue from host community agreements ($156,000 from Mineola Modera, $269,000 from 250 Old Country Rd.).
Mineola reduced its tax certiorari budget for next year to $330,000. Tax certs are settlements brought by property owners who claim they are over-assessed and paying too much in property taxes. Conversely, as far back as in 2005-06, the village was budgeting $1.3 million per year.
“That’s significant savings over the years,” Strauss said. “The revaluation program which started in 2008 has been a huge success. We were able to reduce [tax certs].”
The village board is looking to increase road and curb maintenance by $20,000 and $25,000, respectively with a $1.1 million budget.
Mineola is adding a new budget line for streetlight replacement, totaling $50,000.
“We’re looking to get energy-efficient streelighting. We’re going to do sections of the village at a time,” Strauss said.
Retirement contributions decreased by $172,000. Healthcare on the other hand, saw a $50,000 uptick. These two components saw significant facelifts after Mineola ratified its employee contract in February.
The agreement says the village will pay full health insurance premiums for employees who began working in Mineola before Jan. 1, 1989. Workers employed after that date but before Jan. 1, 2015, will receive a 90 contribution from Mineola to their premiums with the last 10 percent coming out of the employee’s pocket.
The village will cover 85 percent of health benefits for new hires after Jan. 1 and the remaining 15 percent being paid for by the worker.
“We’ve settled the union contract with our employees in the village,” Strauss said. “We’ve made adjustments to the budget for the increase in minimum wage.”
