Tax Decrease Secured in 2013 Yorktown Budget
After some intense internal squabbling, the Yorktown Town Board approved a proposed 2013 budget for public scrutiny last week that would decrease town taxes for all property owners.
For the majority of residents in the water, sewer and refuse districts, taxes will drop 3.26%, or approximately $80. For all others, taxes will decline .21%, or $4.
“It’s positive for the town. Just a very tight budget,” said Supervisor Michael Grace.
The $51.59 million budget is well below the state imposed 2% tax levy cap. Spending is up $1.1 million and the general fund, which makes up 62% of the budget, increased 4.17%.
Councilman Nick Bianco maintained Grace was utilizing too much money from special districts to offset the hike in the general fund and suggested a greater percentage of the town’s $4 million unrestricted fund balance should be used instead.
“Don’t take it out on the special districts. It’s not their fault,” Bianco remarked. “It’s not right. This general fund has problems.”
The board settled on taking $485,000 from fund balance, leaving the town with a recommended 15% of its budget for a rainy day.
Councilman Vishnu Patel said he was concerned about some of the calculations in the budget and their long-term implications.
“I want to see what’s going to happen in 2014,” Patel said. “This is fuzzy math. The numbers don’t add up.”
Grace explained the increase in the general fund can be attributed directly to salary increases in contracts reached with the PBA and CSEA. The PBA contract covered four years and the CSEA pact spanned three years.
The budget also includes raises for elected officials and most department heads. Salaries have been frozen for those positions since 2008.
“You need to have competitive salaries to attract qualified people to run your town,” Grace said. “Some of our department heads are the lowest paid department heads in Westchester County. I think it’s a little disingenuous not to do it.”
A public hearing on the spending plan will take place Wednesday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
