By:Karenlyn Barone
In arriving at the budget the village board and the budget committee, go line by line for each department, said Budget Officer for the Village of Lynbrook David Smollet. Of course, the unfunded state mandate for state retirement is an item we have no control over.
Lynbrook took into account the very real issue of judgment/ certioraris when planning their budget this year.
We increased the line item for judgment/certioraris from $750,000. to one million this year, explained Smollet. We are gearing ourselves up so we can be prudent in paying it back with operating funds as opposed to going out to the bond market.
Certioraris are both commercial and residential properties that sue the village for over assessment of property values. In the past it has be in excess of over one million dollars, according to Smollet.
Mayor Gene Scarpato indicated that next year's budget also includes a 4 percent increase for the mayor and the village trustees.
The Village of East Rockaway will be adopting their budget at a village board meeting on Thursday, April 29, at 7 p.m. at village hall. The tentative village budget for 2004 - 2005 officially received at a village board meeting on April 12, is $7,689,776. with a tax levy estimated at $5,545,004. a significant increase of 11.78 percent over last year-s budget. If adopted, residents will pay $20.59 per $100. of net assessed valuation.
Bill Long, the Clerk Treasurer for the village said that up until the budget is approved, It can only be lowered before the village board passes it. But, it cannot go up.
East Rockaway is dissimilar to Lynbrook, in that it is not a full service village. A major difference in budget planning is that Lynbrook has its own police force, while East Rockaway relies on the services of the Nassau County Police Department.
Lynbrook is, in fact, a full service village, said Smollet. We have more avenues of revenue to be brought into the village than a village like East Rockaway that doesn-t have as many services as we have; like the pool and our own police department.
Both men did, though, express the same frustration regarding New York State mandates.
The liability insurance costs, health insurance and retirement costs are the three major items that we have literally no control over, said Long. We do hope that the state provides us with needed relief in the areas of retirement and health insurance.
Deputy Mayor Richard Meagher expressed at a recent village board meeting the board's diligence in trying to curtail the budget this year.
"We are looking at the budget line by line and at expenditures and revenue, line by line," he said. "We are working very hard to lower it."
With the final hearing just days away, as the Herald went to press, the mayor and trustees of East Rockaway continued to work on lowering the budget.
"The board is continuing efforts to come in with the lowest possible budget, while still maintaining the standard of services the village residents have become accustomed to," said Mayor Joseph Carrigan.
