Walsh Optimistic During Early Budget Discussion

Touting a platform of accessibility and fiscal responsibility, Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh presented an early look at the 2012 budget Wednesday evening in West Harrison.

One thing was clear during the discussion: It's still early. Specific numbers for total expenses and the projected tax rate increase are still not available at this point and will not be, Walsh said, until she finishes budget meetings with department heads later this month.

The supervisor's proposed budget must be filed with the state by October 31.

Walsh did discuss the tax cap, saying that the town can increase spending slightly more than $1 million to stay within the cap. The cap, though, is on the levy, not the overall tax rate increase. Walsh said the town won't be ready to release how much a 2 percent increase on the levy would affect the actual tax rate until assessment numbers are tallied.

Although trouble continues on the revenue side of the budget, including mortgage tax decreases—which Walsh said have dropped approximately $14 million since 2004—and building department fees that have decreased as well, Walsh was optimistic that there have been improvements in Harrison's budgeting practices under her leadership.

"We have achieved fiscal responsibility in Harrison," Walsh said.

If that's the case, it will come as welcomed news to Harrison residents. The tax rate ballooned and increased again by .

The town has come under fire for its budget practices as recently as December 2010, when the state comptroller released an audit finding that Harrison's budgeting practices were during a span from 2005-10. Part of the problem, the audit said, was that Harrison had been overestimating it's revenues and dipping into the fund balance to get through the year.

Walsh said this year she expects every line item in the year-to-year budget from the 2011 budget to be covered, leaving the town with nothing to make up for in 2012.

"Every single category we will meet or exceed," Walsh said.

Walsh added that she is hopeful that the town will be able to stay beneath the cap for the 2012 budget, but given the on-going financial obstacles the town faces it is too soon to know for sure.

"It's going to be difficult," the mayor said, adding that it is unlikely the town would be able to achieve a zero percent tax rate increase without substantial cuts to an already thinned employee base.

The current supervisor, who will run for re-election in November, also promoted her hard line against what she called unnecessary expenditures and touted reductions in overall town expenses through staff reductions during her administration.

"You simply cannot expect what you did years ago," she said. "We're doing more with less."

Similar budget presentations are scheduled for the Harrison Library on Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. and at the Purchase Community Center on Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m.