By Karenlyn Barone
"These are tough times," said Lynbrook Mayor Eugene Scarpato at the opening of the meeting. "We all like the services of the village, and you have to pay for that. Albany says you need certain things, and you have to pay for that, too."
Lynbrook's budget presentation was made by budget officer Dave Smollett and Deputy Mayor Thomas Miccio. The budget committee included, for the first time, invited residents Lois Rothenberg and Michael Hawxhurst.
Lynbrook's tentative budget, for the fiscal year from June 1, 2005, to May 31, 2006, is $29,800,118, an increase of 8.57 percent over the current year. The tax rate per $100 of assessed valuation is $13.75, or an increase of just over 9 percent over the current budget's tax rate of $12.60. Tentative revenues are $4,496,122, and net assessed valuation is $177,440,409.
East Rockaway's board, including Mayor Joseph Carrigan, Deputy Mayor Richard Meagher, Trustees Ed Sieban, Bruno Romano and Irene Villacci, presented a tentative budget of $7,662,532. The tax rate per $100 of assessed valuation, $21.50, is an increase of $1.54 over the current rate of $19.96. Revenues for the village are estimated at $1,907,546, and net assessed valuation is $26,769,410.
In Lynbrook, Miccio said the No. 1 problem is the drop in assessed valuations and the certioraris. "There has been an almost $11 million drop in assessed valuations in five years," explained Miccio. "It is the equivalent of 75 homes disappearing off the map for tax purposes."
In fact, the drop from last year is a significant $2,405,902.
Certioraris have hit Lynbrook hard. Last year it budgeted $1 million, and before the fiscal year was through, the village had already reached that total in tax reimbursements. This year, the proposed budget includes $1,250,000 for anticipated certiorari claims. "This money could have been used for road repairs," said Miccio. "Instead these are dollars that go out the door."
Though the audiences were small at both presentations, at Lynbrook, participation was high. The possibility of reducing the mayor's and trustees' stipends was brought up for discussion by resident and faithful number-cruncher Jerry Marshall. He also recommended that the board eliminate the position of budget officer and reverse its decision, made just last week, to increase the compensated travel allowance per mile for village employees who use their own cars for business.
"We still have one week to make adjustments and bring this in as responsibly as possible," said Miccio.
Uncomfortable with the proposed tax increase, resident Marie Conneally told the board, "You're going to have to be more creative."
At the East Rockaway meeting, there were few questions or comments from the audience. "The department heads did a great job and were very conservative," said Village Clerk Doris Piedemonte. She said that the tentative budget would continue to be evaluated until the last minute to ensure that it is the best possible budget.
"The village board, administration and the department heads worked together to arrive at the right tentative budget, and the village board will continue to review the figures, trying to decrease the expenditures without limiting services and increasing the revenue," said Deputy Mayor Richard Meagher. "Whatever is feasible."
The local budgets must be adopted by May 1. Lynbrook will hold its budget adoption meeting on Monday, April 18, at 8 p.m., and East Rockaway will reconvene on Thursday, April 28, at 7 p.m.
Comments about this story? KBarone@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202
