The Williston Park Board of Trustees approved a $6.7 million budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year on Monday night. 

The $6,712,974 budget represents a $131,613 increase in spending from the current year, a 2 percent rise. 

Property taxes for the village will rise by $81,807, or 1.52 percent, below the state cap. 

Mayor Paul Ehrbar thanked the village’s employees, trustees and specifically Village Clerk Julie Kain, who put in a lot of work around the beginning of the year in order to get the budget done, he said. 

“We hate to raise taxes on any resident or taxpayer in the village but to only increase $81,000 on a budget of $6.7 million I think the board and office staff did a very great job,” Ehrbar said. “We’ve been able to accomplish a lot without really having to impact residents on the tax base for what we are doing.”

In 2018, the village board voted to exceed the tax cap for the 2018-19 fiscal year budget, increasing  the tax levy 3 percent from the prior year. From 2013 through 2016, the board voted to override the cap, saying the village’s spending needs were growing more than the state limits allowed.

In unrelated village business, the Board of Trustees voted to request a grant of $50,000 from Nassau County’s Community Development Block Grant Program, which would be spread out across the village in a residential rehabilitation program, if approved. 

The Community Development Block Grant Program is a federally funded program administered through Nassau County intended to help urban communities and low-and-moderate-income individuals in particular, according to the Nassau County website.

Ehrbar said the village’s options are limited due to the per capita income of residents, but that the village is eligible for some funding for residential rehabilitation projects. The money would be available for individuals with limited incomes who need to repair their homes.

More information about the Residential Rehabilitation Program can be found on the village website.