Board nixes village bond

After much debate, the Rockville Centre village board shot down a $750,000 bond resolution at its meeting Monday night.

The bond would have funded additional payments that have arisen in a workers compensation claim — one for which the village had already bonded $1 million at its Sept. 15 meeting. Village Comptroller Mike Schussheim said that the resolution needed four out of five votes to pass, and Trustees David Krasula and Edward Oppenheimer voted against it.

"I can't go forward with this," Krasula said of using bond money, which would be paid off over 10 years, to fund a workers compensation claim that has not been made public. "I think it's wrong." Krasula said the item should be added to the next fiscal year budget.

But Deputy Mayor Chuck Joyce and Trustee Kevin Glynn said that putting the expense in next year's budget would be an unfair burden on taxpayers, because all of the money would have to be paid at once through taxes.

The village would pay just under $1.1 million over the life of the bond, Schussheim estimated. But he cautioned the board not to vote down the resolution, saying that if trustees opted instead to dip into the village's cash reserves, which he projected to be about $1.25 million, it could lower the village's credit rating, which was recently raised to AA+ — the second-highest rating.

"I don't think there's anyone more parsimonious in this village than me," Schussheim said to the board. "This is the best of many bad choices."

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