Mt. Kisco’s Proposed $24M General Fund Budget Carries 1.5% Tax Hike

Mount Kisco homeowners may see a 1.5 percent tax rate increase in the 2022-23 fiscal year budget proposed last week that easily complies with the state tax cap.

Village Manager Ed Brancati presented the first draft of the $24 million general fund budget, a $400,000 spending hike over the current year. The 1.49 tax rate increase would equate to a $56.87 village tax increase for a homeowner who has the average residence in the municipality valued at $457,500.

The tax levy increase presented last week would be 1.25 percent, $281,000 below the ceiling for the village.

The only staffing change is the proposed addition of a full-time recreation leader, which will be partially offset by reductions of part-time personnel and a variety of other lines in the recreation budget, Brancati said.

Also proposed is the community resource officer, a new position as of March for a three-month trial run. Brancati said the money for the officer, which had been estimated for a full year at $250,000, would be part of the village’s contract with Westchester County and not affect the village payroll.

A wide variety of capital projects, some with outside funding that has been earmarked to partially offset expenses for the work, are planned by village officials for the upcoming year.

Brancati said bids are expected shortly for the work for the Main Street and Lexington Avenue firehouses. Those bids are expected to be awarded for an estimated $7.25 million.

The Green Street firehouse upgrades were completed last year. A combined $14.25 million in borrowing had been authorized by voters in two separate votes in 2017 and 2019 for improvements to the three firehouses.

Other capital projects include improvements to the Preston Way and Legion Way bridges, the continuing streetscape project, paving and sidewalk work, improvements to Village Hall and the old post office, park upgrades and vehicle replacement.

There are also an assortment of water and sewer related projects that are included.

A Village Board work session to review the budget was scheduled for Monday night and a public hearing will take place at the board’s next regular meeting on Apr. 4.

The board must adopt the new budget by May 1. The new fiscal year will begin on June 1.

Martin Wilbur

Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/