After four budget workshops and a public hearing last Monday, the village of Ellenville is a few steps closer to a new budget for its 2008/2009 fiscal year — though whether or not the new budget will pull them out of a financial deficit remains to be seen.

Village Manager Elliott Auerbach met with the various department-heads of village services — water, sewer, street, building, and police — over the course of the first two weeks in April to discuss proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, which runs from June to May of the following calendar-year. During those weeks, the village manager and those same department-heads met with village trustees in budget workshops to explain the different expense raises and cuts in each of the budgets.

Attendance for the workshops varied from day to day: the street and building department meetings on April 1 and 3, respectively, were attended by Village Trustees Francisco Oliveras, Ephrain Lopez, and Deputy Mayor Ray Younger, while Mayor Jeff Kaplan and Trustee Patty Steinhoff were unable to attend as they were on vacation. April 9's police workshop was attended by all members of the village board except Deputy Mayor Younger, while April 10's water and sewer workshop was attended by the entire board. Village Treasurer Linda Polkoski was absent from all four budget meetings because she was on vacation.

As part of their efforts to ensure that the village avoids spending more than it earns once again, Auerbach says that the village hopes to rely on regular financial reports from Treasurer Linda Polkoski. Throughout the budget workshops, Auerbach said that, in addition to the inclusion of expected revenue from property sales in the budget's revenue, part of what brought them to a financial crisis in the first place was Polkoski's lack of communication with the manager and the rest of the board in terms of her redirection of village funds for projects or expenses that were not initially written into the budget. By continually updating the rest of the municipality on the village's financial situation, Polkoski will help keep the village's general fund from entering into another budget deficit.

As of Tuesday, the total amount for the proposed village budget comes in at $3,745,649, reduced from the $3,779,699 figure listed on the proposed budget that was distributed at last Monday's village board meeting during the public hearing. The reduction comes as a result of the hearing, and the savings can be linked directly to cuts in health insurance for certain village employees. Instead of paying for health insurance for village employees who can be covered by a spouse's health insurance, the village will be offering buyouts of the insurance plans — essentially, the village will pay such employees a set sum of money to waive their right to village-provided health insurance. The move will reportedly save the village between $50,000 and $70,000. The lower total expense budget will match with the village's expected revenue, which does not include expected sales of properties, which is one of the budgetary missteps that caused this year's general fund deficit of $750,000.

Overall, the total budget for the village's general fund increased by 3% from last year's figure of $3,635,199.34. As of Tuesday, the proposed property tax rate will increase to $236.91 per $1,000 of a property's assessment. What this means for the average home in Ellenville, according to Auerbach, is a $114 increase in village property taxes in the coming fiscal year. This is a 6.5% tax-increase from last year in terms of actual dollars, but in terms of how much the state allows the village to tax each year, the new number is actually a decrease. For the fiscal year of 2007/2008, property taxes were at 95% of the allowable state limit. Now that the state's limit has gone up with the new fiscal year, the proposed budget's property taxes are below 82% of the state's limit.

Of the village's service departments, only one of the five — the building department — was able to reduce its budget by the 5% requested by Mayor Kaplan at the February 11 village board meeting. Others, such as the street and police departments, each have increases of 11% and 8.3%, respectively.

When asked on Tuesday about why the departments were unable lower their budgets, Auerbach pointed to three factors that are out of anyone's control: contractual salary increases for unionized village employees (like police officers and street department workers), retirement benefit costs, and rising fuel costs.

"I believe that this is the barest this budget can be while maintaining the level of service that the board wants," said Auerbach. "And this budget also addresses the deficit at the same time, so it's really serving several different masters when you look at it. It's eradicating the deficit, it's still maintaining a level of service to the community, and it's holding the line on taxes." Part of the tax increase can be attributed to efforts to eliminate the general fund's operating deficit, which, Auerbach said at the last village board meeting, should be taken care of in 18 months should the village maintain a conservative approach to spending.

Also during Tuesday's follow-up, Auerbach pointed out reductions in the contractual expenses for the police department, which comprises supplies like ammunition, uniforms, computer supplies, etc.

The budget is scheduled for further discussion at the next village board meeting on Monday, April 28, and must be finalized and passed by next Wednesday, April 30.

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