Tough Times for Village Government

These are hard times for small local governments. Feeling the squeeze from the tax cap, shrinking revenues and increases in mandated costs the pressure is on to cut services or consolidate with other municipalities. Grant support from the county and the state for infrastructure improvements has dried up as well. Though Scarsdale is efficiently run, each year it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain basic services without excessive tax increases.

The stress on the system is visible at Village Hall with broken seats and worn woodwork in Rutheford Hall, which serves as the Village Court and primary meeting room. Other Village facilities also need attention: Freightway Garage needs to be waterproofed, painted and equipped with a new elevator and at Crossway Firehouse the kitchen dates back to 1939. The harsh winter has caused extensive damage to our roadways, and with just $456,000 to spend on repairs, we will be driving around potholes for months to come.

This year, the proposed Village Budget is $52,690,745, which translates to a 3.33% tax increase, exceeding the 2.49% tax cap. However, unlike the school budget, the Village budget is not voted on by the general public, so the Village Board has the power to approve it.

The 2014-15 budget will fund some Village improvements and equipment. Here are a few of the items on the list:

A clean-up of the Hutchinson River in conjunction with neighboring towns
A new playground and drainage system at Hyatt Field
Digitization of historical files at Village Hall
Two new police cars
A new dump truck and sanding equipment
1 new sanitation truck and 2 refuse scooters
Funding from Cablevision and Verizon for cable equipment
Repairs to the fire training building
Street tree planting program
Replacement of water pumps at the pool and a pool facility study

What to do?

The Fiscal Affairs Committee of the Scarsdale Forum has studied the proposed $52.6mm Village budget and made suggestions on how the Village can cut costs and continue to operate independently.

They noted that pension and health care costs continue to rise and have recommended that the Village bargain with unionized workers for more favorable terms for the Village.

As the police and fire departments already have shared services agreements with neighboring towns, the Forum suggest that the Departments of Tax Collection and the Assessor explore similar agreements to cut costs.

They offer suggestions on cutting costs for leaf pick-up by requiring homeowners to bag their leaves and leave them at the curb for pick-up. The Forum had previously suggested that trash pick-up could be cut back to once per week and residents could be required to bring trash bins to the curb, both which proved to be unpopular with residents. Instead, the report suggests that the Village purchase robotic trash removal vehicles that would decrease personnel costs and increase efficiency.

Village revenues from country clubs could be increased if the Village charged a commercial tax rate for these businesses that rely on Village services such as trash pick-up.

These are just some of the recommendations made in the committee report: You can read it in its entirety here: