Average Village Homeowner to See $132 Municipal Tax Increase in 2012

With direction from the council, administrators in Ridgewood will be drawing from the budget surplus to lower the projected tax increase to 3.8 percent, a figure officials say will prevent layoffs as well as closures at the library.

Taxes will be rising $132 for the average homeowner assessed at $794,531, according to Village Manager Ken Gabbert. It's a figure greatly reduced from the initial discussions in February, where a .

said Councilman Steve Wellinghorst at the Wednesday night council work session. "We all wanted the budget to be lower. What we don't want is to have to cut people and lay people off."

Stressing the clock is , Gabbert said unexpected challenges with revenue have emerged. The administrator told the council $445,000 in FEMA refunds can't be used to offset taxes for the upcoming budget, as initially had been anticipated.

Instead, to keep the tax figure down, the village could dip into its surplus with the expectation the FEMA funds will replenish the budget in 2013, he said.

About half of the $445,000 would be used to cover debt service payments while about $100,000 could lower the tax levy and another $100,000 dropped into the .

Not all were in agreement dipping into the surplus temporarily was the right path.

"Based on the weather reports in the last couple of years," said Mayor Keith Killion, "we can have another and we'd be caught with our proverbial pants down."

Though a dwindling surplus may trouble some council members, there were clear winners with the council's decision to dip into its savings.

Having pleaded with officials to throw them a bone, library officials got with the $100,000 budget gift basket.

They still must find some places to cut in their own budget, but library board members are breathing a sigh of relief they won't have any closures during 2012-2013. The library budget has fallen in recent years and closures have resulted since 2010.

"With this level of funding the entire council has sent the library community a strong message of support," Library Board President John Saraceno said in a statement on Thursday. "We will now be able to continue to provide, and extend, the first-rate services we provide to the community of Ridgewood."

One member of the council expressed support for a more equitable parsing of the budget pain.

"Obviously the pain has been spread across departments in the entire village," said Deputy Mayor Tom Riche. "I know the library is looking for X amount of dollars, but I would suggest we be equal in our pain sharing percentages with the library...I don't think one particular department should get more than another."

To ween itself down to the 3.8 percent figure, $894,200 must be cut, Gabbert said.

Given the late time in the budget process and civil service notification requirements, layoffs will not be taking place. 

"There's no advantage for the village," Gabbert said after the meeting. The budget does mean there will be some personnel changes, however. "There are some delayed hires for a part-time position and also a position going from part-time to full-time at the health department," he said.

According to Gabbert, the cuts identified by department and budget item include:

• Finance – $25K (staff)
• Streets – $60K (overtime)
• Water Pollution – $50K (staff)
• Graydon – $28K (staff)
• Police Department – $40K (overtime)
• Legal – $27K
• Group Health Insurance – $38K
• Unemployment Insurance – $40K
• Insurance Claims – $75K
• Workers Compensation – $50K
• Fleet Contractual – $50K
• Fleet Materials/Supplies  $62K
• Graydon Operating Expenses – $42K
• Debt Service – $200K

All in all, Wellinghorst believes the council has done what it could in challenging economic times.

"I think we've done a pretty good job of doing the best we can do without hurting people," he said. "I think that's what our charge as a council is."

Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh was not present on Wednesday.

The full council will meet on Tuesday, May 29 at 7 p.m. to introduce the budget. The annual budget newsletter will likely be sent out in the second or third week in June with a final public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, June 26.

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