by the Nyack Village Board
The Village of Nyack is considering a budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020. Our budget year starts on June 1 and ends on May 31 each year. The Village Board has conducted several workshops and meetings related to the proposed budget plan over the past month. We want to thank our Village Administrator James Politi and our Village Clerk/Treasurer Jennifer Hetling for their hard work throughout this process.
The goal of the Village Board is to keep our spending plan under the tax cap and to provide mandated and important services to residents. It is always a challenge to develop a budget that meets those goals and balances the mandates and values of our village.
The fiscal year 2019-2020 budget for our general fund will be within the NYS mandated tax cap. The final number will be determined at our Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, April 24 at 7:30p at Village Hall. The draft budget, which includes input from the Village Board, can be found on nyack-ny.gov.
The draft budget is $3,712,190, compared to last year’s budget of $3,591,611. The final budget amount and increase will be determined at the Nyack Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday. There are still a few small items being considered in both revenue and expense. This year has presented challenges based on increases in expenses and decreases in revenues.
Highlights of Village of Nyack Services
Based on the services that the Village of Nyack provides, the largest line item on the expense side is related to personnel. This includes staff at Village Hall, the Department of Public Works, and administrative staff. Increases in this area are all based on our collective bargaining agreement, increases in health care costs, and NYS mandated pension costs. These three areas increased this year by $73,000 in salaries, $60,000 in health care, and $22,000 in pension costs. These mandated increases in expenditures would by themselves have caused the budget to break the tax cap if we had not made other adjustments.
We are anticipating lower costs due to the conversion of our streetlights to LED fixtures of $22,500; a reduction in personnel expenses related to overtime of $25,000; and a reduction of $58,000 in bond payments.
This draft budget maintains our sustainability efforts and the commitment to our children through funding recreational activities and a summer camp for residents of Nyack.
On the revenue side, we will see a decrease in several areas. Anticipated building fees related to building permits are reduced by $256,000. Building fees are calculated on expected revenues from current or projected building activities. And the anticipated revenue from the River Club property, budgeted last year as a revenue of $20,000, has been eliminated as the proposed tenant has pulled out of the project.
As the village rolls out the new muni-meters in the business district during the summer of 2019, the Village Board will also introduce new parking rates. The budget anticipates a $50,000 revenue increase from the parking authority.
Key Elements of the Development Plan
The Nyack Parking Authority will implement changes to the operations and management in the Authority, along with the new pay-by-plate muni-meter program.
Significant infrastructure improvements will include: A multi-year project to upgrade our water distribution system; Broadway streetscape improvements that will provide new sidewalks, pedestrian crosswalks, benches, trees, LED period lighting, and other amenities; a new walkway and footbridge connecting the Nyack Marina and Memorial Park; new sidewalks in various areas of the village; improvements to several pedestrian crossing through a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan Grant: and the repaving of several streets in the village.
Continuing the commitment to our youth through the funding and support of the after-school program and Camp Nyack in collaboration with the Nyack Center, and continuing supplemental funding for the village’s Summer Food Program.
Continuing to develop a sustainable community by implementing a complete streets program for safer pedestrian and bike related transportation, installation of LED street lights, exploration of community choice aggregation, and developing a joint recycling initiative with other riverfront villages.
Recycling will be an issue for the villages as we anticipate significant increases in recycling fees beginning in January. The Village Board will be conducting workshops and educational activities to inform residents of the ongoing opportunities and challenges related to recycling.
Summary
This was a highly challenging budget year, given the mandated cost increases. The final budget, however, remains within the tax cap, as we have pledged, while continuing to fund the many vital services that village residents rely on.
