Stewart Manor board unanimously adopts budget
Times are tough for municipalities all over Long Island, so it’s no surprise that many of them are choosing to go with fiscally conservative approaches when it comes down to what taxpayers wind up paying for overhead. At an April 14 public meeting, the Stewart Manor Board of Trustees unanimously voted to approve its village budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year. The approved $2,457,413 represents a 1.61 increase over the previous year’s spending plan. The tax levy is set at 1.11 percent and both expenditures and revenues only saw incremental changes from 2014-15.
Mayor Gerard S. Tangredi said that the goal of the approved budget was to carefully monitor expenses and increase non-tax revenue where possible, with the overall objective being to not exceed the New York State-mandated 1.68 percent tax cap placed upon municipalities while maintaining services for Stewart Manor residents.
“Basically, our job is to maintain village properties and village equipment and keep them operating as long as possible with the least amount of expense,” he said. “In addition, we’re trying to maximize all non-property tax revenue sources, and we’re constantly looking for new sources as well. It seems to be working, and that’s what we keep doing.”
Initially, while it was the board of trustees’ plan to perform an override of the 1.68 percent New York State municipality tax cap—which would allow the village to exceed that financial limitation—Tangredi announced that evening that this was no longer the case.
“The board has decided to not go that route,” he said. “We will not be going to pass the tax cap break tonight. Instead, [New York] State has proposed that villages join in on a 1 percent consolidation of shared services, spread out over a three-year period, and we will try to pursue that. Since it is the board’s goal to hold taxes at the lowest possible increase without affecting vital services to our community, we will be submitting a proposal for the state’s consideration.”
The Stewart Manor’s overall financial situation was also touched upon by Tangredi, who noted that the village’s outlook was indeed positive in the near future.
“The village was again given a favorable ‘No Designation’ rating from the Office of the State Comptroller in February. This is based on financial indicators that include a year-end fund balance, cash position and patterns of operating deficits,” he said. “Our unrestricted fund balance this year is $718,365, and [bond credit rating business] Moody’s upgraded our General Obligation Rating from A1 to Aa3 last year, citing a ‘stable, healthy financial position’ as one of our strengths.”
Tangredi noted that the amount of state aid to the village saw a bump as well, totaling $82,000 for 2015-16; this amount includes general state aid and mortgage tax revenue. The main reason for this increase, he said, is the budgeting for the remainder of a grant ($24,750) and associated expense related to work on the village hall. With that taken into account, the amount of state aid per capita remains the same for this year, which is $43,260.
Other resolutions affecting village finances were also voted upon and approved by the trustees; chief among them were the approval of employee salaries, fire department personnel, and the raising of parking fines throughout the village.
“All initial fines will be raised by $5,” he said. “The last time the fines were adjusted were in February 2011 with the exception of parking meters, which were amended in February 2014. These fines will go into effect as soon as new tickets are printed and put into use, but no later than June 2015.”
