By Carol P. Bartold

Apr. 13, 2016:  The Bronxville Board of Trustees, at its April 11 annual meeting, adopted a $15.9 million village budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

The budget calls for $9.3 million to be raised through real property taxes, $6.1 million from other sources, and $500,000 to be appropriated from the fund balance.

The approved real property tax levy of $9.3 million represents an increase of approximately $351,000 over the current year and represents an increase of approximately 0.77 percent over the current-year tax rate.

The 2016-2017 budget establishes a tax rate of approximately $3.06 per $1,000 in assessed value. The levy is based on a total taxable assessed property value of $3.055 billion. According to Jim Palmer, village administrator, the median value for a home in the village is $2.2 million.

The largest portion of the budgeted $6.1 million in revenues from sources other than real property taxes comes from parking and parking-related operations. Parking meter fees and parking permits generate approximately $2.4 million in revenue for the village, while parking tickets account for $797,000. Other fines and forfeited bail bring in $110,000.

The local portion of sales tax revenue collected from village merchants accounts for $885,000 in revenue. Licenses and permits generate revenues of $684,000 and mortgage transfer taxes, $275,000.

According to Jim Palmer, the village's allowable property tax cap, which, under New York State law is the lesser of 2 percent and the rate of inflation, stands at 0.12 percent for 2016-2017. That rate cap would represent an $11,000 increase in the real property tax levy. The board of trustees, at its February 8 meeting, passed legislation to exceed the allowable tax cap.

"While the village tries to run a very fiscally prudent budget," Palmer said, "allocations continue to go up, not the least of which is health insurance premiums." He also identified increasing electricity and telephone rates and the settlement of a contract with the police department as growth factors that necessitated overriding the allowable tax cap.

Palmer also noted that the village took out a $7.2 million bond to address capital needs, which will cover initial cost outlays for the $8.6 million Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Midland Valley Drainage Project (the flood mitigation project). The village will receive $5 million from FEMA to cover those costs.

Palmer credited village staff in all departments for working "exceptionally hard" to produce an economical budget that will still serve village residents.

Pictured here:  Judge George Meyer being sworn in by Judge George McKinnis.  

Photo by Carol P. Bartold