Board Passes Law to Override Tax Cap

At Monday's organizational meeting, village trustees held a public hearing on a local law to authorize a property tax levy in excess of the limit established in general municipal law Section 3-c so as to permit the village to override the state imposed property tax levy cap for the fiscal year commencing June 1, 2013.

The local law passed unanimously.

Trustees are required to enact legislation each year to override the cap for that year. The board wound up not having to override the cap last year. Trustees are hoping that's the case this year as tough budget talks continue.

Village counsel Gary Fishberg said the law is protective in nature. "Hopefully the village will not need it, will not use it," he said. "If it's necessary to go over the cap this will permit the village to do so. If the village believes it stays within the cap but on some recalculation by the comptroller's office is a finding that the village somehow missed that number this will protect the village against the consequences."

Resident Kevin McCarthy said his taxes have gone up 300 percent over the past 20 years. "Bottom line is our expenses are out of control with what our revenues are," he told trustees.

Finance chair and trustee Andrew Cavanaugh said no final decision has been made regarding the final budget, which the board did not vote on April 1, typically the first major order of business after oaths of office are taken.

One budget scenario, which accounted for the firefighter layoffs, included $55,712,266 in budget appropriations, an implied tax rate of $46.57 and an 8.71 percent tax increase.

On March 20, the village filed a tentative budget "in the area of $53,500,000," after an additional 4 percent reduction in personnel costs across all departments. (Department heads had already been directed to reduce their spending by 3 percent.)

The additional cuts brought the tax rate increase down to approximately 4 percent. "If we have a tax rate of 4 percent it will be well under the tax cap," Cavanaugh said. 

On June 30, 2012 Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill limiting property tax increases to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Cuomo called the cap "a critical step toward New York's economic recovery" and county executive Ed Mangano said the cap is "long overdue" for Nassau residents and considered Cuomo's move "among the most important accomplishments" of the governor's first six months.

Cavanaugh first suggested a local law be established last March as a "fail safe" because it would protect the village from penalties if it were to exceed the 2 percent limit, even if just fractionally.

"It is certainly the intention of the finance committee and certainly of my colleagues on this board to stay under that 2 percent tax cap levy," Cavanaugh said during talks a year ago.

Trustees' thoughts on the matter haven't changed as they still hope to stay below the 2 percent cap, which is really a cap on the tax levy - not your tax bill. The tax levy, according to village counsel Gary Fishberg, is the total amount of taxes the village can raise through its taxation. 

Final budget numbers were expected to be revealed at the April 1 meeting but the board did not vote on the budget perhaps because negotiations are continuing with the Professional Fire Fighters Association (PFFA).

Cavanaugh told Patch that keeping the six firefighters would actually save the village $1 million. A budget scenario without the layoffs leads to a 6.09 percent tax increase and $45.45 implied tax rate, according to village calculations.

"If we settle with the firefighters and don't lay people off for reasons of the contract it is cheaper for us by $1 million," he said. "The settlement that is being discussed with the PFFA, which is not yet finalized, would, for this budget and future budgets, reduce the expense to the village."

There is a special meeting of the board tonight starting at 8 p.m. It is anticipated that the board will adjourn into executive session to discuss a matter of employee collective bargaining.