Preliminary village budget below cap

Mar 25, 2014 at 10:59 pm by Observer-Review


Preliminary village budget below cap   ADVERTISEMENT

Preliminary village budget below cap

PENN YAN—Penn Yan Mayor Bob Church said the preliminary Penn Yan budget will remain below the tax cap. He said the 2014-15 preliminary budget “stayed well underneath our tax cap,” with a less than 1.5 percent tax levy increase.
Church said this was accomplished even with a 12 percent increase in healthcare, and an increase in retirement costs as well. The mayor attributed the ability to remain within the cap to Village Treasurer Gary Meeks, Director of Public Works Brent Bodine and the individual department heads. Church said Meeks had asked the department heads to budget 3 percent less than what they had in last year’s budget. He said there was also a reduction in audit fees and a reduction with the police department using  a new fuel system.
Church said the major increase in the 2014-15 budget is $189,000 for a new street sweeper. He said the village will be able to pay cash for the new sweeper and will not have to bond it. The mayor said without the purchase in the budget, it may have been less than last year’s budget, or very close.
Trustee David Reeve commended Meeks for his work on the budget. He said every other time the village looked at the budget without Meeks, there were “things that were weird with it or had to be figured out and changed.” Reeve said it was a very well presented budget, and that Meeks had “great command of this.”
In other business:
• The board passed a local law amending the banners chapter of the village code. The vote was held after a public hearing during which no one spoke.
• The First Presbyterian Church was authorized to hold the annual Easter Sunrise Service April 20 at 7 a.m. in Indian Pines Park.
• The board approved resolutions amending the village’s intermunicipal agreement between the village and Yates County. The agreement is regarding sharing the occupancy tax revenue and anticipated payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) revenue with the village. The amendment makes the language clearer to allow the village to spend the money for any legitimate governmental purpose, and not restricted as before.
• The board set a public hearing for April 15 for a local law amending the cemetery chapter of the village code. The public hearing will be at 6 p.m.
• Jean D’Abbracci was appointed to the village planning board as an alternate for a one-year term.
• The village approved an application for Ron Spoor at 133 East Elm St. for a $22,879.39 facade improvement. The work includes replacing siding, front awning, doors and windows, along with building a new deck.
• The board declared a 2010 Ford F250 pickup truck as surplus to sell at a fair market value estimated to be $26,200.

 

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