Comptroller: Yorktown is in Good Financial State

It's been six months since the year started, and according to Yorktown town comptroller Joan Goldberg the town is in good financial shape. But there might be trouble ahead.

In order for the town to stay below the state enacted 2-percent tax cap for 2013, and meet the projected increased expenditures, the town will be "short" $656,223. Goldberg said a possible solution would be to lower costs and find more revenue.

Earlier this week she updated town board members with the numbers so far – what the fund balance is, how 2012 revenue and expense numbers were tracking compared to budget estimates, what some of the 2013 budget issues might be.  

Goldberg said the town has approximately $3.7 million in the unreserved fund balance, adding that $3 million was a "safe" number to keep the fund balance at.

The money that was already committed and used out of the fund balance to date was for police officer raises ($300,000), the ($125,000) and legal settlements ($110,000).

Not included in the budget, Goldberg said, was money for paving the roads or purchasing town vehicles. The town is expected to receive about $300,000 in state CHIPS money for road paving, as well as reimbursements for Hurricane Irene from FEMA.

So far in the year, town recreation fees are 17 percent lower than anticipated and what they were at this time last year. Also lower is the projected mortgage tax – down 3 percent. But, fines and bail money were up 20 percent, and antenna rents were up 10 percent. Also increased was overtime – 23 percent more than what was projected, Goldberg said.

For the 2013 budget, Goldberg said the town would need an additional $1 million based on current projections of increased expenses. Anticipated expense increases include: $275,000 for medical benefits, $290,000 to replace what was taken from the fund balance in the 2012 budget, $418,000 for police salary raises (8.85 percent total), and $24,410 to cover CSEA raises ($100,000 of this expense was already included in the 2012 budget).

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