Proposed 2020 Operating Budget- Additional Analysis

2020 Proposed Operating Budget
The proposed 2020 Operating Budget (Here) and the 2020 Capital Budget(Here) are now available. On Wednesday 11/13, the Town held its first Public Hearing on the Budget and you can watch that hearing here. Click on the section for Public Hearings, one hour and 40 minutes in the budget hearing begins, I am the first public speaker.

The 2020 Proposed Operating budget is a strong operating budget that has a lot to like but also a lot that can be improved upon. It benefits greatly from the recently enacted Westchester County Sales Tax increase.  That 1% increase in the sales tax, results in an increase of $3.2mm in revenue to the town, or about 3% of proposed expenses for 2020. That should have made it very reasonable to have a budget, that covers the costs of inflation but does not raise taxes. The county government is doing it and so is Hartsdale Fire Department. The HFD did not even benefit from the sales tax increase, while the County is cutting the property tax levy because of the increased revenues.

This years Greenburgh 2020 budget calls for a 2.3% increase in property tax revenues, with property taxes set to increase from $68.5mm to $70mm. I am disappointed that the Supervisor is saying this is a “No Tax Increase Budget”. That is simply not true, and while the tax rate is staying flat, the town is collecting an additional $1.5mm in tax revenue this year. There is only way to describe that, a tax increase.

There are many things to like in the budget.  Several departments in the town are embracing efficiency and came in with operating budgets for 2020 less than that of 2019. These include the office of the Comptroller, Town Clerk, Town Engineer, and the SWAT division of police.

But there is a lot we could have done better.  The budget has several large line items with little to no explanation or back up.  The Contingent account in the TOV budget goes from $1.5mm to $3.9mm.  At the hearing we were told that money was to cover potential costs of employees when the union contracts are renegotiated. If that is the case, this should be in the employee and benefits section. Another item I asked about that stood out and needs more information is the $2.93mm  “Transfer to Capital Fund” out of the TOV budget. We were told this was to prefund capital projects without bonding for them however we were not provided any details of what projects this would pay for. I would much rather see that figure at $1.4mm, and this be an actual zero tax increase budget.

The taxpayers of Greenburgh, homeowners throughout the village and unincorporated area are hurting, with the loss of the SALT deduction and increasing taxes at every turn, taxpayers need relief.  Hartsdale Fire and the County got that, Greenburgh didn’t. This was the year for us to hold the line on taxes.  The extra sales tax money, dividends from the Re-assessment and decreases in certiori’s, this was really something that was possible.  I encourage you to tell the Town Board the same. Email them at TownBoard@greenburghny.com