Village Officials: Croton Budget will Come in Under Tax Cap

Croton village officials believe they will have a spending plan that falls within the state’s property tax cap when they adopt a budget on Monday.

Village Manager Abraham Zambrano said village officials have managed to cut the tax rate increase proposed in the 2013-2014 in the latest proposal to 2.41 percent.

The tax rate in the tentative $18.3 million spending plan released to the public on March 20 was 5.38 percent, or an additional $12.95 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

In his budget address, Zambrana said he feared that the village would need to go over the $10,881,215 tax levy cap set by the state. Zambrano said the village board has since made a number of changes and now have budget that falls within the state cap.

“[Monday] night, we did have a budget work session with the board and we have some preliminary numbers that won’t be finalized until Monday,” Zambrano said. “As it stands now, I don’t anticipate any changes.”

Zambrano said there are no layoffs planned, but there be cuts to some positions that are already vacant. Departments heads have also come back with adjusted revenue calculations for next year.

Zambrano also said that there are plans to increase the appropriated fund balance in the retirement reserve fund in next year’s budget from $150,000 to $200,000.

The village board is expected to adopt a budget at 7:30 p.m. Monday at village hall, located at 1 Van Wyck Street in Croton-on-Hudson.