Bronxville Insider: Mayor's Column Week of March 27, 2023.

Mayor’s Column: March 27, 2023.

Per New York State procedure, the Village has filed a 2023-2024 tentative budget.

As currently proposed, the budget requires a tax rate of 3.589 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation resulting in a 2.39% increase in real property taxes for the next fiscal year.

In real dollars, the effect is thus:

• At the village median property assessment of $2,500,000 with a tax rate of 3.589, the tax increase in real dollars would be $210 for a home of that value making a total median Village tax bill $8972.50.

Chief components of the budget include:

• A total general fund appropriation of $19,486,740 representing an increase of $997,100 or 5.39% from the 2022-2023 adopted budget.
• Non-real property tax revenues of $6,781,740 representing an increase of $418,500 or 6.57% above last year.
• Use of $700,000 from the unappropriated fund balance.
• Use of tax stabilization funds of $125,000 from our tax stabilization reserve fund.
• A real estate tax levy increase of 4.67% (in excess of the allowable tax cap levy)
• A taxable value of $3,301,663,900, representing an increase of $72,891,325 from last year.
• A general fund contribution of $1,558, 588 to the library fund representing an increase of $71,729 or 4.8% above last year.
• The result is an unassigned fund balance as of May 31 projected to be 43% of operating, exclusive of use of $700,000 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and another $375,000 assigned for tax stabilization to be applied over the next three years.

The budget accounts for above average expense growth in employee benefits, principally retirement contribution, healthcare premiums, and Worker’s Compensation premiums, which are offset in part by strong non-real property tax revenue growth from sales tax and building permits.

The budget also includes a reduction in use of unassigned fund balance by $75,000 while also requiring the use of tax stabilization monies to be applied equally over the next three years to offset debt service growth until the next bond is paid off in 2026.

Most importantly, this budget ensures that a healthy fund balance remains intact enabling the Village to borrow for future capital needs at the lowest possible interest rates while allowing for maximum flexibility for its use.

To that end, the budget includes an extensive list of capital projects, either currently underway or planned for prioritization.

They include:

• We continue our aggressive maintenance of our 125-year-old water delivery system. Starting on planned Phases 4 & 5, we will be cleaning, televising, repairing, replacing and re-lining sewers throughout the Village.
• On the stormwater front, we will also be adding more catch basins and expanding our water conveyance systems.
• To accomplish all of this, we have taken on debt of $2 million. But thanks to our excellent fund balance, we received an interest rate of 1.7%.
• Quite visible, we are upgrading the entire intersection at Midland Avenue and Pondfield Road. The supply chain finally came through with the regulation mastheads now required by the State of New York and we have, as part of a walkability initiative, widened the sidewalks around the intersection, created “bump outs” to slim down the size of the road, fixed the curbs and will be adding a pedestrian push button signalization system.
• The intersection at Gramatan Avenue and Pondfield Road will also have new traffic signals consistent with state requirements. The entire project will cost approximately $1.2 million.
• In an effort to maximize our precious open space ,we will be improving Dogwood Park (the parkland straddling both Kensington  and Sagamore Roads), with a new sprinkler system, topsoil, seeding, new trees, and curbing as well as improving drainage on the Sagamore Road side.
• At other end of Sagamore Road, we will be adding two new play structures in the park to replace some well-worn equipment at the cost of $150,000.
• We are also spending the same amount of money as part of a public /private partnership at Maltby Park to enhance that entire open space with play equipment, landscaping, benches, and picnic tables.
• Capital funds will be spent on bank stabilization at the two Bronx River water outfalls near Scout Field with a goal of mitigating area flooding.
• As for physical needs, the Village is purchasing a needed new garbage truck, a pickup truck for the DPW, one new police car and a sewer jet cleaner so we can clean our sewers going forward without hiring outside companies.
• On the security front, we will be upgrading our entire existing camera infrastructure as well as purchasing an additional license plate reader.

We anticipate our public works equipment to last much longer going forward now that we have a new closed garage to store this very specialized equipment.

This is just a preview of projects as we hope to add as many more as possible as money and time permits.

Any thoughts you have for capital improvements needed around the Village are so welcome.