The proposed Village of Bellport 2022/23 $5,349,002 budget is 3.95 percent tax increase—an 8 percent budget-to-budget increase. The average estimated increase is about $90 per year per …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you had a login with the previous version of our e-edition, then you already have a login here. You just need to reset your password by clicking here.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
|
The proposed Village of Bellport 2022/23 $5,349,002 budget is 3.95 percent tax increase—an 8 percent budget-to-budget increase. The average estimated increase is about $90 per year per household or $7.50 a month. A public hearing was held last week during the April 3 meeting and the budget was adopted by the board directly following.
The budget maintains the mayor’s and trustees’ salaries at $9,000 and $21,000 for all four trustees. In fact, all village employee salaries were maintained from last year’s budget, as was the budget for culture and recreation including the community center, Ho-Hum Beach, ferries, dock, tennis courts, kids camp and special events for a total of $490,650. Home and community services was also maintained at $1.4 million.
Employee benefits remained the same, as did debt redemption including expected revenues at $2.3 million. Reserves were used for capital improvement projects at the dock for a total estimated cost of $33,690. Employee liability also increased to $22,440.
The village’s total indebtedness of $2.3 million includes serial bond balances for golf improvement and renovation at 3.5 percent for $95,000; public improvement for $345,000 at 2.19 percent; and public improvements for $1.8 million at 2 percent. Anticipated notes include the dock improvements for $432,000 and $2,128,168, both at 2.7 percent, with a FEMA reimbursement of $2.6 million.
“I think it’s a solid budget for the village,” said mayor Ray Fell, making note of all the projects currently in place for improvements.
Piercing the 2 percent tax cap, he explained, virtually means nothing other than a higher tax increase because the board approved the ability to do so earlier in the year. Villages, as opposed to school districts, he said, can exclude their bond debt from their tax cap calculations, whereas villages cannot, making it hard not to.