The Village of Plandome Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously adopted a $3.05 million 2017-18 budget that raises property taxes 1 percent, an increase that falls below the state mandated cap of 2 percent.
“We’ve come below the tax cap for almost every year” since 2012 “the tax cap has been in existence” said Elizabeth Kaye, the clerk/treasurer.
Village revenue will total $33,000 less than projected budget costs, resulting in a deficit the village will offset with a transfer from its capital reserves, Kaye said.
Those capital reserves currently stand at $723,511, but will soon decline significantly with a $178,000 payment for water meter upgrades.
“We’re going to get smart meters — they read off the antennae so literally you can press a button on the computer,” Kaye said. “They are very accurate, have a long shelf life, you can monitor usage and we don’t need to have manual reading anymore so labor costs can be shifted.”
The largest expense in the budget is a $1.374 million payment for policing, which amounts to “the cost of a patrol car,” Kaye said.
Plandome has a contract with Nassau County for a dedicated car as opposed to other area residents who pay a patrol cost in their County tax, Kaye said.
When the village “disbanded their own police department” in 1975 “it was sort of a natural arrangement,” Kaye added.
Sanitation services, provided by Meadow Carting, will cost the village $221,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, a village document said.
The village is also in the process of paying down a $1.4 million bond for water mane improvements and a $1.9 million bond for roadwork, both of which were taken out in 2015, Kaye said.
The village will pay $223,000 in bond payments in fiscal year 2017-18, the document said.
The water mane improvement and roadwork is in its “last phase” and will be completed during the 2017-18 fiscal year, Kaye said.
One of the few new expenses for the village will be $6,000 for a part-time code enforcement agent to improve traffic flow and compliance at the Plandome LIRR station, the document said.
Property taxes will account for $2.588 million in revenue of the village’s $3.017 total revenue for 2017-18, the document said.
The second largest projected source of revenue will be building inspection fees, which will raise $200,000.
“The building department is a big revenue stream at the moment because so many people are building,” Kaye said.
“Our village is healthy,” Kaye said.
