Village Board Talks Budget, Renovations for Sr. Center

The Village of Lindenhurst Board of Trustees met this week for its at where members discussed the village budget and forthcoming renovations to the senior citizen center.

Mayor Tom Brennan and the board also spoke about the at the same meeting, as reported by Lindenhurst Patch.

The board revealed that state aid to the village is down about $32,000 from approximately $559,000. However, Mayor Brennan and Trustee Mike Lavorata noted that state aid is only five to six percent of the budget.

“We get most of our revenue from real estate taxes,” said Lavorata. He and Brennan put that figure at roughly 80 percent.

However, as with other municipalities, the village has been negatively impacted by the economic downturn over the past few years. Lavorta noted that just a few years ago, the village collected $400,000 in mortgage taxes. Today, that figure stands at about $100,000.

And while revenues from mortgage taxes are down, the cost of doing business for the village has risen. For example, Brennan noted that pension costs have doubled over the past few years with the price tag today at $400,000.

And the mayor and board of trustees place much of the blame on Albany for its financial woes.

“It’s all the unfunded state mandates that get us,” said Lavorata.

“They’re great at making laws, but give us the money to do them,” Brennan said.

The mayor also told Lindenhurst Patch that the village has obtained funding that will enable it to revamp the Rainbow Senior Citizen Center.

“We obtained money from LIPA and New York state that will allow us to update the entire building and make it green. And it will cost the village nothing,” Brennan said.

He added that state money for the project was not affected by the current cuts coming down from Albany as a result of the $132.5 billion budget deal reached last week.