%e£#t&^.L... s I— 1 L_-£ c—-—™!—« —^-—»^^'^'«'*'a"^-^-^-^l^^ ...-.", • -- -,,-r-,,' ,, - *'__ Inside Freeport
A Publication of the Incorporated Village of Freeport, N.Y.
Volume I, Issue I Winter 2010
VILLAGE DIRECTORY
Assessor
377-2256
Building
377-2242
Community Development
377-2203,
Electric
377-2262
Emergency Management
377-2188
Fire
377-2190
Mayor , Y
377-2252
Human Resources
377-2267
Police
378-07,00
Public Relations
377-2246
Public Works
377-2289
Purchasing
377-2192
Recreation
377-2314
Registrar
377-2250
Treasurer
377-2212
Village Clerk
377-2300
Mayor Andrew Hardwick Explains Fiscal Problems,
Spending Cuts,Tax Increase in First Budget
When my team ran for
office, we promised to cut
wasteful spending and. con-duct
a complete analysis of
the economic policies that
the prior administration pur-sued
over the past 12 years.
Upon taking office, I, along
with Deputy Mayor Robert
Kennedy and Trustee Car-men
Pineyro, requested that
the New York State Comp-troller
conduct an audit of
the fiscal year ending Febru-ary
28, 2009 and also or-dered
my fiscal team to begin
a comprehensive review of
the Village's budget for the
2009-2010 fiscal year.
While the State Comptrol-ler's
audit is expected to last
a few more months, our
analysis of the prior admini-stration's
budget, which I
inherited when I took office,
was,clearly distressing. The
prior administration's budget
for the fiscal year ending
February 28, 2010, failed to
reflect the realities of the
economic crisis that has been
upon us since the fall of 2008
and has left the Village open
to various economic perils.
In a rush to put together
an "election-year budget,"
the prior administration
even ignored the warnings of
its own fiscal team and
drafted what could only be
termed a "political budget".
What has become abun-dantly
clear is that, unlike
when you and I plan our
family budgets - examining
.what we* can^affprd and tak-ing
into consideration the
income we can reasonably
expect to earn - the prior
administration totally failed
to manage Village finances
in the same manner. In-stead,
they inflated revenue
projections and underesti-mated
expenditures.
For example, although
the prior administration
was advised to place a real-istic
number of $8.2 million
to cover the cost of medical
insurance within the 2009-
2010 fiscal year's budget,
they chose to only budget
$7.2 million instead. That
action created a recurring,
structural shortfall of about
$1 million, a hole that had
to be filled in this year's
budget. ^We_ also began to
see a pattern whereby sala-ries
were repeatedly being
paid through bond proceeds
instead of revenues. In
other words, they were pay-ing
salaries with loans in-stead
of income. This is not
an acceptable accounting
process; moreover, salaries
will have to be paid hi fu-ture
years from our tax dol-lars.
Income from interest
earned on deposits was
grossly over-estimated at
$410,000, even though only
$8,000 had been received
Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick
hard at work in his office in Village Hall.
by budget time. Mortgage
revenue also was overesti-mated
by about $230,000, an
estimate that flew in the
face of the highest foreclo-sure
rate in history. Al-though
not an exhaustive
list, these two*'items alone
created a $630,000 budget
hole, which my administra-tion
had to fill hi the 2010
budget.
In November of '09, Free-port
was notified' that it, as"
well as the other municipali-ties
in the state, would have
to absorb a 23-percent short-fall
in the New York State
Pension System. In addition
to its current pension pay-ment,
Freeport has to pay
the State of New York $1
million more hi pension
costs. While this news'was
certainly alarming, it got
worse. The Village was also
notified that, as a conse-quence
of the declining econ-omy,
the Village's assessed
(Continued on reverse)
Inside FreeOort
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F
^
AT A GLANCE
The Adopted Budget for Fiscal
Year 2010-2011*:
• Corrects structural "holes" created
by previous administration's
overestimation of income;
underestimation of expenses and
reliance on deficit spending to
balance annual budgets.
• Reflects spending cuts by all Village
departments.
• Avoids employee layoffs.
• . Increases property taxes by only 5.5-
percent. • : - , - , -
*The Village's fiscal year runs from March I to Feb. 28.
Mayor's Budget Message
(continued from front page)
valuation dropped by 1.8 percent,
creating an instant tax loss of
$693,000.
I have asked my fiscal team to put
an end to these suspect budget prac-tices.
At my request, they reviewed
and scrutinized each department for
ways to save money and reduce ex-penses.
Each department was told to
cut its budget and submit a realistic,
streamlined budget for the upcoming
2010-2011 fiscal year. To date, more
than $3 million in expenditures has
been cut, and projected revenues from
Freeport's share of New York State
mortgage tax and interest earnings
were brought into line- with the cur-rent
economic climate.'
As a corisequence of the imprudent
fiscal policies, of'the. prior administra-tion,
coupled with the current na-tional,
Hstate and local economic crises,
increasing medical and pension costs
and the Village's declining assessed
valuation, we have had to tighten our
belts to the point where it is hard to
breathe. Even after having made
those tough decisions, we are still
facing a significant shortfall.
The proposed budget for the fis-cal
year - beginning March 1, 2010
and ending February 28, 2011 - calls
for $62,367,588 in appropriations,
which is approximately $2 million in
excess of projected revenues. In order
to balance the budget and meet our
obligations, we had to increase taxes
by about $26.66 per month for an
average single-family homeowner.
This unavoidable increase in real
property taxes is 5.5 percent, which
we expect to be at or lower than the
projected increases in other incorpo-rated
villages on Long Island. That
rate is based upon a total assessed
valuation of $71,473,161 and a tax
rate of $54.86 per $100 of assessed
valuation. The principal reasons ac-counting
for the tax increase are as
follows: 1) the loss of assessed valua-tion
(1.87 percent); 2) filling approxi-mately
$2.5 million to $3 million in
budget holes left by the prior admini-stration;
and 3) an increase in Vil-lage
net operating expenses (2.5 per-cent).
' .
• We are living'in a time of'eco-nomic
crisis the likes of which we
have not seen since the Great De-pression.
It is a period when federal,
state and county officials across the
country are predicting historic
budget deficits and, in particular,
when the State of New York is dras-tically
cutting funding for programs
and economic assistance to local mu-nicipalities.
In such times, govern-ments
like Freeport have to tighten
their belts and curtail spending. At
the same time, we still have an obli-gation
to provide services in an effi-cient,
realistic and cost-effective
manner.
These tough economic times are
not of your nor my administration's
making; but together, .we, can and
will work to get through them. You
can rest assured that, before we
asked our taxpayers to,put up an-
;other dime of money none of us has
to spare, my team looked at every
department in our Village and cut
and restructured them so as to main-tain
the current level of services at
the lowest possible cost to you. We all
understand that this fiscal crisis
did not develop in just one year,
nor can it be cured in & single year.
Accordingly, we are putting long-term
plans in place to continue to
curtail expenses while generating
new non-tax revenues.
Freeport has a proud history
and a glorious future ahead for
you, our children, and our grand-children.
We must lay a sound and
honest foundation today for tomor-row.
The 2010-2011 budget is de-signed
to ensure a firm fiscal fu-ture
for our beloved Village.
Thank you for your continued
cooperation and support.
Sincerely,
Andrew Hardwick
Mayor
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Organization Night
7:30 p.m. Monday, April 5
Main Conference Room
Village Hall, 46 N. Ocean Ave.
For information: 516-377-2252-
1 *****
Freeport/Merrick Rotary Club
Community Fun Day
7:00 p.m. Thursday, April 8
Freeport High School Gymnasium
For information: 516-378-5643
*****
In Conceit: The Long Island Brass Guild
2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 11
Freeport Memorial Library
144 W. Merrick Rd.
Free admission. For more information:
516-379-3274; www.freeportlibrary.info
• _ *****
Registration Begins for Summer 2010!
Freeport Recreation Center
130 E. Merrick Rd.
Residents: 9 a.m.-2 p.m., April 18-19
Non-residents: 9 a.m.-2 p.m., April 19
For fees and more information:
516-377-2314; www.freeportny.gov
/ns/cte Freeport, the print edition, is produced
quarterly by the Village of Freeport's
Public Relations' Department
Send ideas and feedback to:
-' publicity@freeportn/.gov .
Inc. Village of Freeport
46 N. Ocean Avenue
Freeport, NY 11520
www.freeportny.gov
