49.0°,
Overcast Village floats tentative budget
Officials override tax cap to compile 2012-13 draft spending plan
The Malverne village board unveiled its $15.2 million preliminary 2012-13 budget last week — an increase of $832,000 over the current spending plan — after once again voting unanimously to override the tax cap imposed by New York state. The budget’s tentative tax levy increase is 2.63 percent.
At a public hearing on April 12, board trustees noted that they had passed a local law eight days earlier that gave them the power to adopt a budget with a tax levy increase that exceeds the 2 percent cap. But they also explained that they discovered that a mistake had been made in the Notice of Public Hearing published in the Herald. The notice indicated that the hearing to discuss the tax cap law would be held on April 12 rather than April 4. So the board agreed to rescind the law it passed on April 4, and then announced the one that would replace it.
Mayor Patricia McDonald once again emphasized the need for the village to pass the law. “Every effort has been made to stay under the 2 percent tax cap while still providing the same services to our residents,” she said. “However, there are certain increases that are beyond our control. The goal of this board has always been to provide the lowest tax rate possible. The adoption of this law will give us the flexibility to go over the cap …”
Deputy Mayor Joe Hennessy, the village’s budget director, stressed that the reason for the local law is to protect the village from having to pay major penalties if, he said, it unintentionally exceeded the tax cap because of an error or miscalculation.
“As the process went on,” Hennessy explained, “and the board was presented with the budget … it became evident that there was no way we could stay below the 2 percent.” After the meeting, he added, “We won’t take any chances. There are no options.”
Despite tough economic times, officials said, the spending plan will maintain all programs and services, though residents will be paying a bit more in taxes. McDonald credited the hard work of Hennessy, Village Clerk Terry Emmel and the various department heads for arriving at a workable plan.
