Rockville Centre tax rate hits 20-year high

Village homeowners may see their tax rate rise by over 10 percent next year, mainly due to employee benefits and road repairs, according to RVC officials. If adopted by the board, this would mean a 16 percent increase in two years, bringing the average homeowner’s tax bill to $3,005 on a house assessed at $7,800.

The Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee also made a presentation at the meeting, offering its suggested changes to the spending plan.

Village Comptroller Michael Schussheim explained the budget and the steep tax increase to the few residents who attended. "While we're seeing decline or stagnation in our revenues, our expenses continue to increase," Schussheim said.

One of the biggest increases — over $1 million — is in employee benefits. Another is the cost of road resurfacing. According to Schussheim, that cost has skyrocketed in recent years. It now costs the village about $2.5 million to resurface 1.5 miles of road, he said — a cost he doesn't think the village can bear much longer.

Trustee Dave Krasula pointed out that while the village's spending is increasing 5.9 percent, nearly half of it — 2.7 percent —is attributable to the mandated costs of employee benefits. Actually, Krasula said, non-mandated spending is only increasing 3.2 percent.

The large tax rate increase was the main focus at the meeting. Schussheim said that while the increase is large, it is necessary. "There comes a point — and the village is very close to it —where we won't be able to provide the services people have enjoyed for generations if we reduce the proposed tax rate increase," he said, explaining that village departments are already operating with a bare minimum of manpower and supplies, and that any further cuts would only hurt the efficiency of village government.

The most significant concern of the Citizens Committee, which is headed by Jim Fagan, was lowering the tax rate. "Coupled with last year's increase, this will put the village's tax increase over 16 percent for two years," Fagan told the board. "In our opinion, a real estate tax increase of greater than 5 percent is unacceptable in today's economic climate. While we recognize there are significant shortfalls in revenue due to the recession and a tax increase must be had to cover the expected gap between revenue and expenses, other revenue sources should and must be considered."

The proposed tax increase is the largest since fiscal year 1990, when taxes increased over 13 percent.

"We're going to do our absolute best to drive that number down," said Krasula. "And we will, one way or another."

Though the tax increase is steep, Schussheim said that it does not reflect poorly on the village. In fact, the increase is necessary to keep the village financially stable.

"The strength of this village economically is demonstrated by its ratings from Moody's and Standard & Poors," Schussheim said, which are the second-highest given by the credit agencies. "These ratings are not only prestigious, but it lowers the cost of borrowing."

Schussheim also said that next year should not see a tax increase similar to this year's. He said he hopes and believes it will be in the 5 percent range. He was also careful, he said, to make sure there was no wasteful spending in the budget.

"With the village money," Schussheim said, "I treat it more carefully than my own money."

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