PART 5: A TENTATIVE BUDGET THAT INCLUDES SOME HARD CHOICES

Part 1 of the budget process is now complete. As the Town’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Fiscal Officer, I’ve submitted my 2011 Tentative Budget to the community and the Town Board.

As highlighted in the Introduction to the budget that is available elsewhere online, I am recommending a $48.30, or 3.65%, increase in the tax rate for the three budget funds that all Yorktown property owners pay: the General, Highway and Library Funds.

For the typical homeowner with a $10,000 assessment on public water and sewer, and including garbage pick up and emergency medical services, that works out to an actual increase of $46.00, for a total Town tax bill of $2,388.89.

For the typical homeowner without Town utilities, but with garbage pick up and emergency medical services, the increase will be $48.74, for a total Town tax bill of $1,746.34. (The reason for the higher increase for residents without public utilities is the 2.27% decrease in the water district tax.)

Throughout the budget process, my overriding goal has been to keep the increase in the tax rate as low as possible while maintaining the programs and services that I knew were important to our community. I believe that I’ve achieved that goal and that most residents will not be impacted by the few modest reductions in some services.

Equally important, I believe that this is an honest budget that neither artificially inflates revenue sources or recklessly uses our depleted fund balance monies to lower the tax rate further. And, in a word of caution to the Town Board, I’ve identified potential additional 2011 expenses, such as tax certiorari settlements, that are not included in the tentative budget but which cannot be ignored.

As I wrote in my earlier budget commentaries, I knew I was going to have to make some hard choices and that I would not be able to please everyone. The starting budget numbers were horrendous. I was faced with a $1.9 million decrease in non-property tax revenue compared to 2008, increased expenses totaling $1.3 million, plus the need to “find” an extra $500,000 in revenue (or make $500,000 in cuts) to make up for the $500,000 one-time-only infusion from the fund balance in 2009 that lowered the 2010 tax rate increase.

That left with me two basic options if I wanted to limit the tentative 2011 tax rate increase to no more than $50: find likely and fiscally prudent sources of additional revenue, or cut expenses by $811,000. Ultimately, my budget is a combination of both options. However, because there were limited opportunities to realistically – and prudently – increase the revenue side of the ledger, my primary focus had to be on where and how to reduce expenditures. The result is a tentative budget for the combined General, Highway and Library Funds that is only $14,445 more than the 2010 budget and includes the following service reductions.

The number of bulk trash pick-ups will be reduced from four down to three.
 

The YCCC will be officially closed on Sundays. However, YCCC tenants such as the Yorktown Stage will continue to be able to use the building on Sunday but they will have to pay for the required custodian.
 

The Hart Library will continue to operate seven days a week but will modestly reduce the number of hours it is open each day.
 

For the second year in a row, funds for road paving will be limited to whatever the Town receives from New York State as part of the CHIPS program.

I am also proposing changes in eight staff positions and the elimination of a part time outside contractor for a net savings of $278,000, the equivalent of 1.64% on the tax rate. These changes are in addition to saving more than $500,000 a year in salaries by eliminating 10 staff positions in 2010 by a combination of attrition and an early retirement incentive.

It’s now on to Part 2 of the budget process. In its capacity as the Town’s legislative body, the Town Board will review my Tentative Budget, meet with all department heads, and vote to adopt a Preliminary Budget in mid-November. That budget will then be presented to the community at a public hearing scheduled for December 2nd. By state law, the Town Board must adopt the 2011 budget by December 20th.