By JUDY RATTNER
Residents may be hit, however, with a nearly double-digit tax rate increase - 9.95 percent, a jump that is being attributed in large part to declining revenue from other sources. According to figures provided by the village, under the proposed budget, the average home in Rockville Centre would pay village taxes of $2,568, up from this year's total of $2,336. The village did not provide a current average home value, saying that it is not relevant to the way village taxes are calculated.
The proposed budget will be formally submitted, and will be the subject of a public hearing, at the next village board meeting on Monday. Village trustees must then vote on it no later than May 1.
"We're looking very carefully to find any additional economies," said Mayor Mary Bossart. "We don't want to cut services, but in some areas it's getting close to the bone. As of now we have no capital projects other than the small amount allocated for road resurfacing."
Bossart explained that village revenues have fallen as a result of the sputtering economy. Among the greatest losses is a 27 percent drop in Rockville Centre's share of revenue from the mortgage recording tax. The mayor said the proposed budget is the most conservative fiscal plan the village can adopt because projections, at least for the near future, do not show economic growth.
The proposed increase is for the village portion of homeowners' property taxes, approximately 20 percent of the total tax bill. The school district has not yet formulated its tax increase.
Perhaps anticipating negative reaction to the largest tax increase in the village in 18 years, Comptroller Michael Schussheim said, "No one wants to impose real estate tax increases. Unfortunately, we have to deal with reality, and the reality is, expenses are increasing and certain vital revenue sources are decreasing. In order to provide the level of services that our residents are used to - and expect - we have a number of choices available, and those choices include increasing certain miscellaneous revenues. And in each instance, we didn't think it in the best interest of the village. The only alternative we had, other than raising those miscellaneous revenues, that maintained the level of services, was to increase real estate taxes."
Schussheim added, "We went through the budget in depth and put together a budget that we thought was as tight as could be, that limited the increase to the maximum extent possible. It's the first real estate tax increase that has exceeded the 6 percent level in 18 years. We realize that it's a difficult economic time, but we're trying to balance the difficulty that some might have with paying a 9.95 percent real estate tax increase with the overall quality of life that exists in the village, and that we seek to maintain."
As residents received and had just started to analyze copies of the budget on Monday, word spread of the proposed tax increase - which is actually smaller than the nearly 15 percent jump that had been rumored earlier. Many residents who spoke to the Herald said they had not yet looked at the details of the document and were just starting to form opinions. They chose their words carefully, and reactions were guarded.
Robert Pagnotta, co-chairman of the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, a group charged by the village board to look over the budget and comment on items in it, said, "At 9.95 percent ... that imposes a severe burden on Rockville Centre residents with fixed incomes."
The committee's other co-chair, Jack Brull, said, "I have not gone through the revised proposal, which I found on my doorstep when I got home today. We just feel that in the current economic environment, even an increase of close to 10 percent would not be acceptable to the residents of the village, particularly those living on fixed incomes and considering the additional high local tax costs they are already bearing, and the fuel costs, too."
Ed Oppenheimer, a member of the 17-person committee, said of the budget, "It's a work in process. I've just received it and I want to see how the board responded to some of the committee's suggestions. I do know from the last budget hearing that they did follow some of the suggestions, but since I wasn't able to stay for the whole hearing, I'll have to go through the budget to see if they followed our personnel and overall spending suggestions."
Asked for his comments before having had an opportunity to review the budget, village resident and former trustee Jeff Greenfield focused on Rockville Centre's expenses, saying, "I wish the board would slash the village's legal fees because our litigation expenses have grown out of control. It's less costly to negotiate than litigate."
"I have serious concerns," said village Trustee Jeanne Mulry. "I feel strongly that the proposed tax increase is still too high. I would like the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee to have an opportunity to review and comment on the most recent changes before the board votes on the budget."
And Trustee Dave Krasula said, "We are still working quite diligently to keep any increases to the absolute minimum. The numbers aren't finalized."
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