Yorktown Budget Calls for 7.7 Percent Tax Hike
Yorktown Supervisor Michael Grace’s tentative 2013 budget falls under the state mandated two percent tax levy cap but includes a 7.7 percent tax hike for the majority of town residents.
The proposed $32.25 million budget increases spending by $1.1 million and calls for no employee layoffs. It also decreases the tax rate for the refuse special district, based on the new garbage hauler contract, and water, because of an infusion of $750,000 from the water district fund balance.
Councilman Nick Bianco said the 7.7 percent tax increase is one of the highest “in the history of the Town of Yorktown.”
“This is way up. We can get it lower,” he said. “This is when you use your fund balance.”
With $4 million in the unrestricted fund balance, Bianco has suggested to Grace and the rest of the board to tap into those reserves to lower the tax increase. In the 2012 budget, the town utilized $400,000 from reserves to balance the budget.
The board held two budget review meetings with department heads last week that were not publicly advertised. Two work sessions that have been given public notice are scheduled this week.
One of the issues the board will grapple with is salary increases for elected officials, which have been held in check for the last six years. Grace currently earns $112,095 while the four Town Board members each receive $18,085. Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo earns $125,000. Bianco has recommended an increase between three and four percent.
The board must adopt a budget by December 20. A public hearing is also required.
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/
