Mineola 2013-14 Village Budget Boasts One Percent Hike

The Mineola Village Board is presenting a tentative proposal for a one percent tax hike in the 2013-14 fiscal year. Department heads “have been asked again to hold the line as tight as they can,” Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said during a budget hearing on April 2 at the village hall. “It’s important obviously to us all that taxes are as low as possible and maintain services.”

The building department, library, department of public works and office staff budgets are “basically flat,” the mayor reported.

The total amount of the 2013-14 village budget is about $18.995 million, amounting to about a 1 percent increase over the previous year. The 2011-12 budget totaled $18,863,778, while the 2010-11 budget was about a million less at $17,904,868. The total assessed valuation of homeowners property in the village was $1,813,104,050 according to village treasurer Giacomo Ciccone.

Several changes were made during the preliminary budget hearing to reflect more accurate and up to date figures.

The utility gross tax decreased from $450,000 to $425,000 while the fines and forfeitures line decreased to $1.525 million. Due to mortgage taxes trending upward, that line saw an increase of $15,000.

On the revenue side, modifications included raising taxi driver licenses $1,000 from $2,000 to $3,000 due to more requests from cab companies for licenses, increasing fines and fees for the library from $12,000 to $14,000, raising the amount anticipated to be collected in copy fees from $1,200 to $1,500 and increasing the lost and paid line from $1,500 to $2,000. The village’s CHiPS money will increase $49,504 to $196,795.

On the expenditures side, superintendent of public works Tom Rini said that he had “tried to keep the numbers pretty much the same” in the shared services section, with “small variances” to expected increases. The biggest increase in the central garage budget was diesel fuel going from $125,000 budgeted in 2012-13 to $140,000 next year.

The garage personal services salary line decreased due to the loss of one employee, while the street maintenance increased due to hiring one additional person, with Rini stating that “there’s still one person” budgeted.

The village will also have an increase in its CHiPS line, which Rini said he would have to discuss with the board that the budget at the time did not show, as well as concrete requirements and road maintenance. The village had a decrease in its tax certiorari settlements and it took that money and placed it into the road maintenance line, increasing it by about $250,000 and the curb line by about $50,000.

“We’ve gotten continue complaints about the road maintenance and when are we paving roads – we pave roads every year – this will allow us to pave more roads every year without an increase to the taxpayers,” Strauss said, noting that the exact amount of extra road was difficult to estimate depending on the type of construction necessary.

Rini stated that “everything relating to road reconstruction and asphalt is relative to oil costs so that’s what’s hurting us because all equipment runs on it – diesel fuel – and asphalt is made with petroleum so all those items are affected by that.”

Anticipation of purchase of vehicles such as dump trucks caused the equipment line to jump from $15,000 to $145,000.

“We’re trying to develop in the equipment line a budget amount that we can sustain each year where we can try to develop an annual replacement for things rather than wait too long,” Rini said.

The tree planting line is doubled from $25,000 to $50,000 as the mayor indicated after Hurricane Sandy. Also requested additional $3,000 for sign repair to comply with the federal sign standards, including retro-reflectivity and lowercase letters. There was also a $1,000 increase for repairs of signs and fences at parking fields under the off-street parking section with Rini attributing the increase to the hike in the price of paint.

The superintendent also noted that it was “impossible” to determine the savings for the solar panels on the garage since they were damaged and since repaired following Hurricane Sandy. A full year’s worth of functionality would be required to determine savings.

The village expended about $10,000 more than budgeted in its line for repairs to the baseball fields and playgrounds due to the reconstruction of the dugouts at the 90-ft. diamond at Wilson Park.

Another large expenditure in the line for storm water basin repairs (totaling $32,431) was due to repairs to four basins and unearthing a previously unknown pipe on Garfield Avenue, Rini stated.

The water department would have a $4,000 total increase, going from $1.527 million to $1.531 million, with the majority of the increase going to repairs for hydrants and wells.

“It’s very slight, incremental changes in a number of budget lines as opposed to a large items,” Rini said.

The village did realize a $500 total savings in the pool area with the , which resulted in $5,000 less of electricity usage. The equipment line had ballooned to $38,349 due to refurbishing of the pool slide and some deck chairs and was offset in other line items.

Chief Jeffrey Clark said that the Mineola Fire Department’s budget is also “relatively flat,” with two changes: last year’s equipment line was $16,500, and is being asked to be increased to $24,500 for replacement of older analog radios.

“We’ve implemented a plan much like the superintendent of public works has described where we’re buying equipment annually now,” he said. “Instead of getting hit with one big bill, we’re going to upgrade some of the radios this year with a plan to purchase over the next three years so that it’s a constant change of equipment.”

The department’s Scott Masks will also need to be replaced, causing a budget line jump from $13,000 to $25,000.

“The standards again are changing in 2013,” Clark said. “While we will remain in compliance with the equipment we have, we need to upgrade it to get it to compliance.”

The retirements with the general, library and pool funds caused a $94,000 increase from last year.

“I hope to see that number not go as much up next year because the stock market is doing very well at this point,” Ciccone said.

In 2012 the village committed to pay off a bond anticipation note for pool construction, a fire truck, thus reducing the budget by $122,320. Workers’ comp had to be increased by $30,000 due to increased indemnity benefits from the state from $400 to $792.07.

Ciccone said that he heard “nothing definite” regarding the MTA Payroll Tax, but would still have to budget for it in the library fund, but that the village may receive reimbursement from the state each year.

“We’re still going to have to budget for it, we’re still going to have to pay for it,” he said. “I guess every year New York State’s going to decide if it’s going to give us a reimbursement or not.”

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