Dear Honorable Supervisor Greenstein, Deputy Supervisor Katz and members of the
Town Board:
It is my pleasure to present the 2016 tentative budget for your consideration. Once again,
Comptroller Rob Deary has crafted a budget that balances the provision of essential
municipal services with fiscal responsibility. Once again, New Castle will stay within the
2% tax cap – for the fifth straight year. This budget not only continues this Board’s
commitment to critical infrastructure projects which in the past suffered due to years of
neglect during the recession, but allows the Town to strengthen its financial stature by
maintaining fund balance, critical to maintaining its Aaa bond rating.
This budget proposes .87 % increase in the tax rate which translates into a $27 annual
increase for the average homeowner. However, the average homeowner will only see a
$21 increase to $3,651, when factoring in special districts including refuse, water fire and
ambulance. The average home value in New Castle has a market value of $888,330 and
an assessed value of $171,803. Under the 2% tax cap legislation, the Town of New Castle
could have raised the tax levy by almost $600,000: $285,596 under the .73% annual tax
cap and an additional $308,840 in rollover funds, funds that we could have used last year,
but did not. However, this budget reflects an increase of just $92,052 to our tax levy, a
mere .46%, while increasing critical infrastructure expenditures but still holding fees for
services at the last year’s levels.
During the past year, the total assessed value of the Town actually fell by .14% to
$1,067,610 from $1,069,389 in 2015. This decrease reflects the settlement of large
commercial tax certiorari cases.
The 2016 budget reflects the culmination of the Town’s aggressive negotiation of three
major contracts: in 2014, the Refuse and Recycling contract as well as our Workers
Compensation insurance and in 2015 the liability insurance contract. The Town
continues to see the realized savings of over three quarters of a million dollars from the
renegotiation of the refuse and recycling contracts and the Workers Compensation
insurance reflected in the 2015 budget. The new liability insurance contract resulted in
another $40,000 in savings over last year with greater coverage for the Town.
This budget reflects the Board’s continued commitment to our hamlets. Not only has the
$25,000 allocation for downtown beautification been preserved, but the Town has added
monies to fund to a fulltime hamlet caretaker for 2016. The Town is reaffirming its
commitments to our downtowns by funding this position, employing a person who will
be responsible for the general maintenance of both the Chappaqua and Millwood hamlets.
The downtown beautification efforts were evident this past year with the purchase and
maintenance of 96 hanging baskets and 59 pots overflowing with pink petunias that
brightened our downtowns. Cleaner streets, free of litter and debris, welcome shoppers.
Further beautification efforts will be evident with the installation of additional lighted
snowflakes to illuminate our winter streetscapes throughout the holiday season. The Pace
University public outreach findings were clear that the public wanted a revitalized
downtown hamlet and this Board continues to take bold steps to make the financial
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commitment to those revitalization efforts. The substantial funding put in place last year
to ensure that vision becomes a reality continues and is reinforced with the addition of a
full-time caretaker to ensure the success of those beautification efforts.
In tandem with the current beautification efforts, WSP-Sells infrastructure project plans
are nearing completion. The Streetscape Committee is assisting the Town Board in
selecting key streetscape components with recommendations as to paving options,
sidewalk styles and accents including: lampposts, benches, bollards and trash/recycling
cans. WSP-Sells has completed its preliminary engineering studies, and is awaiting the
results of the flow tests in the Chappaqua hamlet to complete those studies. Bid
documents can then be prepared for the project. WSP- Sells continues to update the
Board and the public on its progress. We expect to break ground on this exciting
revitalization project in 2016.
The Board’s commitment to restore our town roads is once again evident in this budget.
Last year, through an infusion of one million dollars ($600,000 allocation in the 2015
budget and then an additional appropriation of $400,000 of fund balance), we were able
to pave over seven miles of road and patch over 19,000 potholes. This budget allows
DPW to continue the battle to reclaim our roads. By increasing the 2016 funding levels to
$722,786, the Town reaffirms its commitment to reclaiming its storm damaged roads
through a comprehensive multi-year repaving schedule. At the conclusion of the 2015
financial review, the Board has expressed its desire to allocate additional funds to paving
should we realize an operating surplus from 2015. That decision would be made in late
May, in time to schedule summer paving projects.
This budget also reflects the Town’s continued commitment to the timely completion of
the Comprehensive Plan formerly referred to as the Master Plan. Funds have been
allocated this year to ensure that resources are available to complete the SEQR process, a
key (and final) element for the plan’s adoption.
Employee Benefits
This budget also reflects an overall decrease in obligations to employee benefits resulting
from a decrease in contributions to the retirement system offset by a modest increase in
health insurance rates. Our Workers Compensation contributions, aggressively
renegotiated last year, continue to yield significant savings.
Workers Compensation – The 2015 renegotiated contract which resulted in drastically
reduced premiums from 2014 ($987,938) to 2015 ($548,365); a $439,573 savings- have
held through 2016. Most importantly, this sharply lower premium was obtained without
any change to our Workers Compensation coverage.
New York State Retirement System-After years of double digit percentage increases from
2009 through 2012 in our contributions to the New York State Retirement System, our
contributions started leveling off in 2013. Last year’s contributions saw a modest decline.
The Town’s retirement system contributions saw a decrease of over 7% for 2015. That
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trend continues in 2016 and we see a decrease in contributions of $244,357, from
$2,487,259 in 2015 to $2,262.902 in 2016.
Health Insurance- Almost twenty years ago, New Castle joined with other municipalities
to form a consortium to help manage health care costs. That health care consortium,
Municipal Employees Benefit Consortium (MEBCO), continues to provide quality health
care coverage at reasonable rates for our employees. In 2016, the Town will see a modest
increase of $105,764 to $4,006,909.
General Fund
The total revenue is projected to increase by $186,188. This reflects an increase of nontax revenue of $222,376 and a decrease in tax revenue of $36,188. This increase of
$186,188 is an offset to the increase in health care costs as well as contractual raises
provided for in the CSEA and PBA contracts.
Tax Penalties- As our inventory of delinquent properties remains low as a result of our
2014 in rem proceeding, we are expecting our projected property taxes to remain
unchanged at $350,000.
Camps – The downward trend of camp enrollment experienced over the past several
years is expected to continue. To reflect that change, we have decreased our projected
budget goals by $10,910, from $375,575 in 2015 to $364,665 in 2016. Although we were
pleased that our summer camp exceeded budget expectations last year, there is no
evidence to support an increase in revenue in this line at this time.
Sales Tax/Mortgage Tax- We have held our sales tax revenue projections for 2016 at
$2,450,000 and our mortgage tax at $950,000.
In addition, the Town has allocated monies from general fund for the following:
- Proposed hiring of a full-time hamlet caretaker (laborer)- $44,547
- Proposed hiring of a Intermediate Account Clerk- $49,530
- Police overtime increased from $250,000 (2015) to $295,00 (2016)
In addition to continued funding for:
- Town Board Special Projects $25,000
- BAB budget- $25,000
- Boards and Commissions - $10,000
- Town Board Special Events - $10,000
Building Permits: We have increased our building permit revenue projections by
$125,000 to represent the building permits for the retail development at Chappaqua
Crossing. The projections for building permits for 2016 are now $625,000.
Concession Income: Revenue from the Verizon and Cablevision franchises agreement as
well as rent from the taxi stand and train station will result in a $50,000 revenue increase
to this line to $461,000.
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Highway Fund
This budget also reflects the Town’s commitment to rebuilding our critical infrastructure.
The 2015 budget increased the paving budget by 50%, a $200,000 increase from
$400,000 in 2014 to $600,000 in 2015. The 2016 budget increases the paving budget by
yet another $122,786. This Board continues to prove its commitment to restoring our
critical infrastructure which has shown the effects of drastic budget cuts during the
recession and recent severe winters. The ongoing substantial funding levels for paving
guarantee the success of the comprehensive paving program proposed last year by our
Commissioner of Public Works Gerry Moerschell. Commissioner Moerschell prepared a
five-year paving plan to increase the resurfacing schedule over time to return us to where
we should have been if regular road maintenance had not been abandoned in past years.
Refuse Fund
Although the Refuse Fund will again experience the significant drop in revenue first seen
in 2015, this decrease is inconsequential in light of the dramatic savings we continue to
enjoy due to the renegotiation of the seven year contract in 2015.
Conclusion
I believe this tentative budget sets forth a fiscally responsible roadmap for the Town for
2016 and beyond. It anticipates and provides for contingencies with an eye to the bottom
line and holding tax increases to the modest levels. It provides the services our residents
expect and continues our efforts to restore our infrastructure to conditions our residents
deserve.
I would like to thank Rob Deary for his integrity and expertise throughout his budget
process. I would also like to thank the entire staff, especially department heads for all of
their assistance in preparing this budget- without them, this budget would never have
been produced. It is my privilege to work among these professionals and the Town is
fortunate to have such dedicated staff working tirelessly on their behalf.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jill Simon Shapiro
Town Administrator
October 6, 2015
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