A Message to the Community Regarding the 2010 Budget
Catherine Borgia, Town Supervisor
October 30, 2009
The nation, state, and local economic downturn posed many challenges during the preparation of the 2010 Budget. Revenue sources other than property taxes, such as mortgage tax, sales tax, and state aid declined significantly in 2009 and are projected to continue to decline for 2010. The adopted 2009 budget appropriated $653,000 of fund balance, which effectively depleted that resource. In the first quarter of 2009, every department and function in the town cut its budget, achieving a cost savings of $230,000, or 8% of the operating budget. During subsequent months in 2009 additional cuts were made through salary reductions, reduction of personnel through attrition and layoffs, and further operational cost savings by department heads and staff. The effort to right the financial ship of the Town of Ossining has been a totally collaborative process; many are to be congratulated for their hard work, including staff, elected representatives, and citizen volunteers.
The 2010 Preliminary Budget shows decreases in spending of approximately $485,149 across both the Town General and Unincorporated funds. The 2010 Preliminary Budget for the Town General fund is $4,890,945, an -8.00% spending decrease from 2009. The Unincorporated Fund expenditures amount to $6,166,227, or a -0.97% spending decrease from 2009.
The 2010 Preliminary Budget incorporates further cuts across all departments, including further salary reductions, furloughs, and spending cuts in every department. The Town of Ossining employees are an extraordinary group of public servants, whose commitment to providing the best service to the residents of Ossining remains high even during these tough economic times when they are being asked to do much more with many fewer resources. Revenue lines show decreases of 55% in expected interest and earnings for 2010; 33% decrease in Mortgage Tax revenues; 17.65% reduction in Sales Tax revenues and 100% reduction (to $0) in Appropriated Fund Balance. Some increased expenses include the new MTA payroll tax, anticipated to be $17,000 and a 41.1% increase to the NYS retirement fund for town employees and a 14.8% increase for police retirement.
The Town General Fund is impacted by the fact that the Town of Ossining is required to maintain Historic Dale Cemetery. Assessed Values in the Town continue to go down, decreasing an estimated 1.18% this year, on top of a -0.48% decrease in 2008. In addition, the Town has experienced significant tax certiorari refunds, as have all municipalities in Westchester County, further impacting the Town of Ossining Tax Assessment Roll. As a result of these local impacts and the general economic downturn, the tax rate for Town General is $11.21 per thousand of assessed value or an average of $427.80 for residents of the Village of Briarcliff Manor; $194.72 for residents of the Village of Ossining; and $240.58 for residents in the Town Unincorporated Area . For the Town General Fund, these figures represent an 18.65% increase over the 2009 tax levy. While the percentage increase is high, the actual dollar increase of the average residential tax in the Village of Ossining is $50.00 more in 2010 than in 2009; $117 in the Village of Briarcliff; and $68.60 in the Town Unincorporated.
The Town Unincorporated Fund shows a spending decrease of -0.97% from the 2009 budget. This fund pays for the excellent services of the Town Police, Town Highway, Building Department, and Planning and Zoning Departments. The tax levy for this fund is $107.35 per thousand of assessed value, or an average of $2304.61 per household. These figures represent an 8.93% increase over the 2009 tax levy.
The 2010 Adopted Budget is available in the Town Clerk’s office, the Ossining Public Library, and online at www.townofossining.com. The Ossining Town Council will be discussing the Adopted Budget during the November work sessions and will hold a Public Hearing on the budget Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Town/Village Hall, 16 Croton Avenue, 1st Floor Conference Room, Ossining, NY. We urge members of the public to attend to make comments/recommendations about this budget at that hearing. The Town Council anticipates adopting the Final 2010 Budget at its December 8, 2009 legislative meeting.
Download the 2010 Adopted Budget - Line Item [PDF 470Kb]
2010 Adopted Budget - Summary
2010 Adopted Budget - Worksheet
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2010 Assessors Exemption Impact Report
2010 Budget Presentation: PowerPoint Slideshow -- PDF Document
Download the Budget Archives...
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