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Fog/Mist Lawrence village taxes increase for third straight year
Reduction in benefit payouts aids fiscal outlook, roadwork reimbursement expected
The approved 2019-20 Village of Lawrence operating budget of $5.859 million includes a $307,750 increase over the current fiscal plan of $5.551 million and an uptick in the tax rate per $100 of assessed value of $3.50 from $79.50 to $83.
It is the third consecutive year that the village has raised taxes after four straight years of no tax increases. The fiscal year stretches from June 1 to May 31.
Lawrence officials are anticipating a 3.76 percent, $91,813, increase in revenue from $2.444 million to $2.536 million and a 2.46 percent, $62,550, uptick in the amount of money to be raised by taxes from $2.546 million to $2.610 million.
“It’s a responsible budget, but I am concerned about the growth of spending,” Deputy Mayor Michael Fragin said at the April 11 board meeting, pointing to the $300,000 increase for roadwork and $80,000 for computer servers.
Mayor Alex Edelman noted that it was time to replace the servers as they are roughly 18 years old. A substantial portion of the money for road repairs will be reimbursed through New York State’s Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, commonly called CHIPS.
Once again, the final assessment declined, but not as precipitously as the previous year. The current budget had a decrease of 7.18 percent, $248,054, from $3.452 million in 2017-18 to $3.204 million. The new fiscal plan’s drop is 1.87 percent to $3.144 million.
Village officials noted that Nassau County sets the assessment roll and it has to abide by the property values listed. Residents continue to grieve their taxes, seeking a decrease in the amount of money they have to pay. The county has moved to conduct new assessments, and it is good news, bad news for homeowners across Nassau as half will see a reduction and the other half will be paying increases of thousands of dollars up to the next five years.
Lawrence will realize $23,000 in savings as there was an overall $23,00 reduction in benefit payments — from $1.293 million to $1.270 million with $30,000 less being paid for employee retirement — $220,000 from $250,000 — a $10,000 uptick in the hospital and medical insurance payment — from $750,000 to $760,000 — and a $3,000 reduction in the dental and optical insurance payment to $45,000 from $48,000.
