Proposed New Rochelle Budget Raises Taxes Less than 1%

The proposed $160 million spending plan for 2016 in New Rochelle would raise taxes less than 1 percent, according to City Manager Charles Strome III.

Strome released his proposed budget today with the tax levy increase at 0.82 percent, the maximum allowable under the New York State tax cap legislation.

“The proposed budget is a responsible financial plan that maintains existing levels of service, provides for an acceptable capital improvement program and preserves an adequate, although not ideal, rainy day fund,” said Strome in a statement. “Despite the limitations of the tax cap legislation, services are maintained at a minimal cost to taxpayers.”

Employee salaries and health insurance costs will rise under the proposed budget due to union contractual agreements. However, pension costs, which rose almost tenfold over the past decade, are expected to decrease by about $500,000 as a result of the New York State Comptroller’s Contribution Stabilization Program and debt service costs will decline by a similar amount due to recent debt refunding actions. The tax levy portion of the proposed budget is about $900,000, or less than 1 percent, greater than the prior year’s budget.

Copies of the proposed budget are available in the City Clerk’s office, at the New Rochelle Public Library and on the City’s website www.newrochelleny.com. The City Council will conduct budget review meetings in November and December and hold a public hearing on December 1st in advance of the adoption of a tax rate in December.

The New York State imposed tax cap calculation is applied to the tax levy, not to the tax rate. “The 0.82 percent increase to the tax levy equates to a tax rate increase of 1.33 percent because our tax base fell by another $1.3 million this past year,” added Strome. The proposed tax increase for the average homeowner is $44, or about 12 cents per day.

The budget also proposes a capital improvement budget of almost $6 million, more than half of which is funded by the issuance of debt to finance the acquisition of Public Works vehicles, fire engines, infrastructure repairs and other equipment.

“Although we have seen improvements in the economy, demands on the City’s resources continue to escalate. A prudent and cautious approach to the budget will enable us to maintain our extraordinary level of service to our citizens,” Strome concluded. “This budget provides the framework for achieving that goal.”