By Nicole Falco
"We want to reduce taxes, curtail spending, stop the borrowing and reduce the debt," said Mary Salg, who is challenging the incumbents, United Community Party candidates Joanne Antun, a trustee, and Deputy Mayor Guido Cirenza. Salg is running alongside Bill Freda on the Integrity Party line.
In the past few years the village has bonded almost $6 million for road improvements and approximately $1.5 million for two new fire trucks and an ambulance for the Valley Stream Fire Department, and a $5 million bond was initiated to pay tax certiori settlements, which are mandated.
"Some of the roads are in such disrepair," said Cirenza, who is seeking a third consecutive term. "Valley Stream has 90 miles of roadway, and in order to keep them in good condition it costs money." According to Cirenza, it costs the village approximately $1 million to repair one mile of roadway.
"We only take out bonds when there is a large project, and we have no alternative but to bond because the project is so expensive," he said.
According to the village, there is no better time for it to be bonding than now, thanks to the favorable bond ratings it has received from Moody's Investors Service, an organization that rates private and public corporations. In the past four years the village's rating has increased from B2A1 to A2. What the rating means for residents is that borrowing costs or interest rates remain lower -- the rates are currently around 4 percent.
"It's not only that I believe the village's finances are being handled properly, but so does Wall Street," said Antun, who is seeking her second consecutive term.
"When we bond for major improvements, it is no different than when a taxpayer takes out a home equity loan to make an improvement on their house," Antun said. "Six million dollars for road repairs is almost 25 percent of the village's total operating budget. What homeowner would have 25 percent of their annual income waiting in an account for home improvements?"
However, Salg and Freda said, if elected they would work toward introducing a local law to require the village to initiate a referendum before it borrows money, sells public lands or plans major construction projects. "This gives the village control over the major projects in their incorporated village, which is the way it should be," Freda said. "The residents will tell you where they want their money channeled."
The taxes residents pay are the village's largest source of revenue. Freda and Salg said they would push for a 5 percent reduction in taxes and eventually plan future tax increases based on the consumer price index.
In order to accomplish their goal, Freda and Salg said they would seek to go over the budget with a fine-tooth comb and "take a hard look at the ordinary day-to-day operations of the village, from cell-phone use to the practice of leasing vehicles." In addition, Freda said, he would propose that the village use a "zero-based budgeting" process when deciding how much to put toward each line in the budget.
"We'd like to force the department heads to come down to what is really necessary to serve the public," he said.
The village budget process is set to begin March 31, when the mayor and the board of trustees look at spending and revenues in a work session, which is open to the public. This will be followed by a public hearing on April 14.
Next year's budget will be lean and mean, according to Antun. "I'm a taxpayer too, and I'm glad when I don't see exceptional increases in the taxpayers' budget," she said. "When we as a board make decisions for Valley Stream, those decisions impact us very closely too, because we live in Valley Stream, our families live in Valley Stream and our friends live in Valley Stream."
Cirenza and Antun said the mayor and board plan on moving to Phase III of the road-repair schedule, continuing the streetscaping of Rockaway Avenue and looking into repairing the four-decades-old pool in Hendrickson Park. "What we try to do is improve Valley Stream and give taxpayers something in return for the money they are paying," Cirenza said.
In addition, Cirenza said, projects such as the mini-golf course, which is set to open in the spring, and the skate park in Hendrickson Park, which is still being discussed, not only provide the village's youth with a place to go, but the village stands to make a profit from both.
