Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart spoke that the goal was to remain under the state mandated tax cap all through the 2014 budget process leading up to this week.
Stewart did that with the 2014 Supervisor's tentative budget that he presented to the rest of the Orangetown Town Board and to the public during Tuesday's town council meeting in Orangetown Town Hall.
According to Stewart and Orangetown Finance Director Jeff Bencik, the proposed budget calls for a projected 1.91 percent increase as the state calculates the tax levy. Though the state mandated cap is 1.66 percent this year, Orangetown would still be considered under the cap due to a consideration that takes into account the fact that Orangetown came in below the cap last year.
The actual average tax increase for homeowners would be 2.6 percent, though those numbers could change based on information that will come later in the this fall from the state.
"Personally, I do see the tax cap as a worthy goal," Stewart said. "I don't see it as sacred. I think we should be in control of our own destiny. The decisions we make we live and die by them.
"The real dilemma we face is in the use of our reserve funds to cover the gap between our ever-increasing costs and our tax revenues."
The tentative budget calls for the use of $3.5 million in reserve funds in 2014, up from $1.75 million in 2013. The town did use $3.5 million in reserves in 2012.
The proposal also calls for bonding for nearly $4 million in capital expenses, which shows up in the operating budget as $435,000 in debt service. The town would also amortize the pension cost increases for the CSEA and PBA, spreading the expense out over the next 10 years. The town did the same thing with just the CSEA pension last year and both in 2012.
The other members of the town council asked some questions, but comments were limited in large part because, as expected, they did not see the tentative budget until Stewart began his presentation.
"We didn't cut the budget," Councilman Paul Valentine said. "We shifted costs and kicked the can down the road."
Stewart pointed out that the tentative proposal is the first of three drafts of the town budget. The town board will submit a preliminary budget and hold a public hearing to decide whether or not to give itself the ability to override the tax cap Oct. 22. There will be another public budget hearing Nov. 12. The final budget must be adopted by Nov. 19.
Check back with Patch for more on the 2014 Supervisor's tentative budget and reaction from the rest of the town council
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