Greenport needs to adjust proposed budget to fill $47K hole
The Greenport Village Board will have to scramble to fill a more than $47,000 hole in its $2.79 million proposed budget after it learned that one line in the proposal was accidentally zeroed out.
Mayor David Nyce said the oversight, which he was reminded of by resident William Swiskey at a public hearing Thursday night, is the result of a mistake on the part of treasurer Charlene Kagel. Mr. Nyce said Ms. Kagel listed $0 for upgrades and maintenance of parks — a line which cost $47,346 this year — in the tentative budget.
“I submitted a tentative budget and I thought that was in there and it was not,” he said.
Mr. Nyce said the oversight could be corrected by refinancing village debt to amend the budget before the May 1 deadline to adopt a spending plan.
Mr. Nyce’s proposed $2.79 million budget calls for no increase in taxes, which is how the budget process started last year. But the final 2011 spending plan carried a 2.5 percent increase. The added spending was aimed at paying down village debt, which stems largely from the development of Mitchell Park. The current tax rate is $18.58 per $100 of assessed valuation.
Mr. Nyce said he approached this year’s budget the same way he did then to gain input on how the village should secure reserves to pay debt service due in 2014.
Zoning Board of Appeals member David Corwin was the only other resident to speak at Thursday’s hearing. Mr. Corwin asked for $500 to be added to a building maintenance line for painting at Village Hall.
The board next meets April 23 at 6 p.m. when it is likely to adopt the final budget.
