Council to Consider Amendments to Proposed Budget

The New Rochelle City Council will consider four amendments to the proposed 2011 budget Tuesday that could lower the tax rate increase by 1.63 percent.

In a memorandum dated Sunday, from the Democratic majority to City Manager Charles Strome, Finance Commissioner Howard Rattner and council members Richard. St. Paul, Albert Tarantino and Louis Trangucci, the amendments, if adopted, were said to cut the proposed tax rate increase to 2.27 percent from 3.9 percent, while increasing the unappropriated fund balance by $350,000. That would make the fund balance total almost $3 million.

"The year-to-year property tax levy would actually decline by $738,598 or 1.52 percent, a larger percentage reduction than that proposed by the county executive," the memorandum said.

The way the city would accomplish the reduction would be to finance tax certiorari payments, rather than paying them in cash. That would reduce spending by $700,000, according to the memo, and increase the fund balance by $350,000.

The city would also reduce the parking enterprise fund subsidy by $400,000 by increasing the hourly parking rate at the New Roc City parking garage from 75 cents to $1.

Payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) from the would be increased from $75,000 to $100,000 for an additional $25,000 revenue.

Bramson and the others also proposing increasing spending by $27,000 to cover overtime for events such as the July 4th Fireworks, the Memorial Day parade and the newly revived . The city would also encourage private donations to help cover the events.

The total spending in the originally proposed 2011 budget was $143.7 million, down $12.1 million from the revised 2010 budget. Operating fund expenses decreased almost $1.4 million to $107.1 million.

The tax rate was be $176.96 per $1,000 of assessment, an increase of 3.9 percent.
At the time, Strome said the increase was equivalent to less than a 1 percent jump to the average homeowner's combined city, county and school district tax bill, or $113 per year.

The budget proposed to cut 26 full-time positions through attrition, bringing the total number of jobs eliminated over the past two years to 57, or 9 percent of the workforce.

Driving the increase is a diminishing a shrinking property tax base and large increases in employer pension and health insurance costs. Strome said the amount the state required the city to pay to the pension fund has increased from $200,000 in 2002 to close to $10 million for 2011.

The city will be by taking out a loan from the state.

Strome said that was not the ideal way to manage city funds, but the alternative would have been an additional 10 to 15 jobs cut.

The New Rochelle City Council will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a workshop session to discuss the proposed 2011 budget.