Sea Cliff budget will pierce tax cap

We really feel like we did the best that we could, all things considered, but there are just so many factors outside of our control.”

Elena Villafane, Mayor, Sea Cliff

Look, nobody wants to pay more in taxes, including us.”

James Versocki, Village trustee

The Sea Cliff village board has adopted a 2022-23 budget that may not be good news for residents. Local taxes may be on the rise, because the tax levy cap has been breached by roughly $184,000. According to the board, the move is due not to fiscal irresponsibility, but to other financial challenges the village faces.

The board announced on April 13 that it had finalized the $6.65 million spending plan, which is roughly .06 percent larger than the current budget. Despite efforts to keep spending below the tax cap, the rising costs of waste management and insurance and the highest inflation in decades complicated the board’s efforts.

“A lot of these costs are mandated and pushed down on us,” Mayor Elena Villafane explained. “We really feel like we did the best that we could, all things considered, but there are just so many factors outside of our control.”

According to the New York Conference of Mayors, roughly 40 percent of villages in the state will meet or exceed the state cap on increases in their tax levies of roughly 2 percent this year.

The most significant contributor to rising costs in Sea Cliff is waste management — specifically recycling. An economical five-year contract with Winter Brothers, a waste management company, expires this year, and the waste-disposal market has changed in recent years, according to Village Administrator Bruce Kennedy.

“Five years ago, we had an absolutely incredible contract,” Kennedy said. “It was at a time when there was a real market for recycling materials. And all that has changed.”

China is no longer taking recycling material from the U.S., and significant increases in fuel costs in recent months, mostly attributable to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have impacted waste disposal. After researching what other municipalities are spending, Kennedy is estimating that waste-related expenses will increase by $140,000 in the coming year.

And while the village budget has increased by roughly 3.1 percent since 2017, according to Villafane, the rate of inflation in recent months has risen at an alarming annualized rate of roughly 27 percent. In March alone it rose 8.56 percent.

“This was very, very hard, and the board put in a tremendous amount of work,” the mayor said of the budgeting process. “I mean, can the average homeowner keep their household budget [increase] to less than 2 percent when you’re looking at an 8½ percent inflation rate? Not to mention when fuel costs are up by 48 percent. It’s impossible.”

The village’s second-largest budgetary increase, roughly $90,000, will be insurance expenditures. Trustee James Versocki explained that these hikes, too, were outside their realm of control, mainly increases in employees’ health insurance premiums.

“Look, nobody wants to pay more in taxes, including us,” Versocki said. “Anybody can go through this budget line by line. You’re not going to find any slip-ups.”

Trustees said they were not being reactive in dealing with these issues, but rather proactive, doing their best to mitigate long-term costs. They plan to retire three village vehicles, including a code enforcement truck, and are looking to replace them with hybrid vehicles to reduce fuel costs. There are also plans to replace the village’s lighting with LED fixtures, which, after the cost of installation, should generate savings.

Some village departments have also cut costs. The duties of the tax assessor have been folded into those of other employees in the clerk’s office. And the Fire Department, the Department of Public Works and others significantly reduced their budgets. Trustee Nick Pinto said that the Fire Department cut equipment repair costs and retired a fire truck, which it expects to replace by the end of the year.

“I was able to work with Chief [James] Ajamien, who was great in trying to help us keep the budget down,” Pinto said. “Unfortunately, it was just a little bit too late to save the budget entirely.”

Nonetheless, Villafane said that the average resident’s taxes won’t increase by more than $160 a year. The board will continue to do its best to mitigate costs for residents, she said, while maintaining their quality of life.

“Everybody really put their shoulders to the grindstone to make this budget,” Villafane said. “… We owe it to the residents to do the best we can, and ultimately I think we accomplished that against overwhelming odds.”