Village raising taxes

At its meeting on Monday, the Village of Rockville Centre approved its proposed 2014-15 budget, which would raise taxes on village homes and businesses by 4.44 percent.

For the average Rockville Centre home, which is valued at $562,000, that translates to an increase of about $151 in village taxes. Village taxes make up about 10 to 15 percent of a total property tax bill.

The spending plan totals just under $42.7 million, an increase of about $800,000 over the current budget. The increase in taxes is due in part to declining revenues and lower property values.

“The reduction in assessed value necessitates that you offset that revenue loss with an increase in the tax rate to compensate,” said Comptroller Michael Schussheim. He explained that the reason property values are lower is primarily the successful assessment challenges by commercial and large, multi-family property owners.

The village has also lowered its revenue projections for parking meters. In the current budget, thanks to an increase in the cost of parking from 60 to 75 cents an hour, village officials projected an increase of about $250,000 in parking revenue, but that failed to materialize. Because of that, the village reduced its expected parking revenue for the next fiscal year by $170,000.

To offset that, it is projecting a $140,000 increase in revenue from building permits. “We’ve seen, in recent years, continued growth as this area of the economy has improved,” Schussheim said. “And with the improved economy, we’ve seen more people taking out permits to renovate their homes, as well as additional commercial building improvements.”

The village is also facing some additional expenses that it says are fueling the tax increase. Foremost among them is a jump of more than $183,000 in police salaries, due to a new contract the village signed with the police union earlier this year. “We anticipate that it will continue to grow, as the contract has annual wage increases associated with it,” Schussheim said.

There is also more than $150,000 set aside for salary increases for other village employees.

One of the biggest new costs the village is facing is nearly $670,000 in debt service, payments the village has to make for money it bonded.

“That is primarily the result of the capital budget that was approved in the current fiscal year,” Schussheim said, adding that the capital budget included street resurfacing and new vehicles for both the Fire Department and the Department of Public Works. “The first debt service payment is coming due, and this year’s capital budget was rather large.

“I anticipate that in the next few fiscal years, we’ll see continued growth in debt service expenditures,” Schussheim said, “primarily due to the village being more aggressive in its street resurfacing and drainage program, and that’s very costly.”