For another year, the Village of Russell Gardens will not be raising taxes on its residents.

The Russell Gardens Board of Trustees adopted its $3.6 million budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year Thursday night, which includes no increase in property taxes.

The proposed budget includes $1,670,727 in property taxes to be collected by the village in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

The total budget is increasing by nearly 60% from last year, rising by $1,348,383 from the 2023-2024 budget set at $2,270,147.

Notable increases from last year’s budget include expenditures on legal counsel, which is jumping from $43,000 to $75,000 – a $32,000 increase – in the newly adopted budget.

Deputy Mayor Lawrence Chaleff said the village is increasing its budget expenditures for legal counsel as it is seeking to modify various components of its code and draft formalized policies and procedures that require the counsel’s advice. Changes to the village’s code include modifications to its zoning and the addition of laws, the deputy mayor said.

“So we decided that would be probably better for us to up the budget a little bit based on what we’re expecting,” Chaleff said. “Based on the discussions that we’ve had and based on what we’re anticipating, that’s roughly the number that’s been thrown out,” Chaleff said.

While the village is budgeting $75,000 for legal counsel in the upcoming fiscal year, Chaleff said it is not written in stone that the village will spend that entire amount.

The deputy mayor said for the current budget year, the village has spent about $17,000 on legal counsel to date.

Other notable increases for expenditures in the village’s 2024-2025 budget are for its truck equipment and street repairs.

The budget for truck equipment is increasing from $135,000 for the current fiscal year to $503,585 – a 273% increase. This $368,586 jump from one year to the next is due in part to the village purchasing a new street sweeper.

Chaleff said the village will be replacing its street sweeper, which is about 20 years old, through funds in the village’s reserves. The new sweeper will cost about $294,000, Chaleff said.

The deputy mayor said the old sweeper would be traded in and the village was quoted to receive about $30,000 in return.

The village is expected to receive the new sweeper in March or April, Chaleff said.

The village’s budget for street repairs in 2024-2025 is increasing by $1,250,492, with $1,400,000 appropriated in the new budget. This 161% increase is attributed to the village’s street repair project anticipated to begin this year.

Chaleff said the proposed capital improvement project to repave all of the village’s roads is being funded through the village’s reserves.

The village is still working with engineers on the road repaving project, Chaleff said, but he hopes to begin the project in the summer.

While the overall 2024-2025 budget is increasing compared to the current fiscal year with many budgetary line item increases, the village is also cutting back expenses in certain areas. This includes a $36,119 decrease in software maintenance and an $11,000 decrease in truck equipment repair expenses.

The Village of Russell Gardens Board of Trustees will convene again at 8 p.m. on Feb. 1.