Mt. Kisco Proposes 3.5% Tax Hike in $20.4M Village Budget
Mount Kisco Village Manager James Palmer has proposed a $20.4 million 2013-14 general fund budget that would raise property taxes on the average homeowner by more than $120.
The tax rate increase in the tentative plan is 3.5 percent. Palmer has asked to increase spending by $393,592, a 1.96 percent hike over the current year.
The property tax levy would rise by 2.55 percent. Even though the state-mandated cap on the levy is 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, Palmer explained that several items get deducted for tax cap purposes. Among those items are the carryover from last year for being under the cap ($26,393), a police retirement exclusion of $35,869 and payments in lieu of taxes (138,235).
Palmer stated in his March 20 message to the village board that he was proposing no use of fund balance to stay under the cap or to balance the budget.
Declining property values has put pressure on village finances, Palmer said. The taxable assessed value in Mount Kisco fell by $1.4 million during the past year, a result of a declining real estate market and tax certioraris.
“The village continues to be impacted by the effects of the recession and the anemic growth of the economic recovery,” Palmer stated in his budget message.
Also hurting Mount Kisco are unfunded state mandates, including employee pension costs. The village’s contribution to employee pensions is $374,503 higher in next year’s proposed budget compared to two years ago.
Palmer is also asking the village board to purchase two additional police cars and an electric vehicle that would be used for parking enforcement. An increase in the village’s contribution to the Mount Kisco Public Library of $24,281 has also been requested.
While Palmer said the proposed budget stays within the tax cap, the years ahead could be difficult for the state’s municipalities.
“In the long term, Mount Kisco, like all local governments in New York, will face very tough decisions concerning service delivery as long as the pension obligations continue to grow while we simultaneously face a tax cap and have few alternative revenue sources,” he stated.
A public hearing has been scheduled for next Monday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. It will take place during the regularly scheduled village board meeting.
