Sag Harbor Village Board Whittles Away at Proposed Budget

The Sag Harbor Village Board on Thursday, March 6, whittled away at its proposed budget for the coming year, reducing the spending plan from $16.13 million to $15.88 million.

While total spending will shrink from a projected 5 percent hike to a 4 percent increase, the tax levy will stay the same, at $9.13 million, or a 2.6 percent increase, which meets the state cap on tax levy increases. Treasurer Charles Bruschi said the expected tax rate would be released when the board holds its next budget meeting on March 27.

The approximately $250,000 reduction in spending is mostly due to the board’s decision to lease a new dump truck with an option to buy the vehicle after seven years for $1. The truck would have cost $250,000 outright, but instead the village will pay $53,000 a year over the life of the lease, for a net savings in this year’s budget of $197,000.

Bruschi told the board the village would save another approximately $63,000 after reviewing an accounting program it plans to buy this year.

But he said the good news was countered by some bad news in the form of a dip in expected revenue, by about $125,000, due to the expiration of a one-time grant of $144,000, which was offset by a $20,000 increase from the Sag Harbor School District for its share of a school resource officer.

Due to the spending cuts, the board will also be able to reduce to $866,829 from $995,837 the amount of fund balance it will use to offset taxes.

The savings on the dump truck will help the village replace several key pieces of capital equipment in the coming years. The village plans to buy a new streetsweeper, at an estimated cost of $325,000, with money in an equipment reserve fund, and it plans to buy a new garbage truck next year.

The board noted that the village’s Department of Public Works has been using the dump truck that will be replaced for nearly 30 years, while the expected life expectancy is only 12 years.

Bruschi told the board the net increase in expenditures of $579,714 reflected “the cost of doing business,” as it was all traceable to salary and benefits for employees, and a $208,000 increase in liability insurance.

Mayor Tom Gardella, who has lamented the rising cost of insurance, said he was exploring having the village join a collective that purchases energy for municipalities at reduced rates and said he wished there was a similar option to cover insurance costs.

The mayor did say he was going to investigate the possibility of billing insurance companies for ambulance calls through a third-party billing system. “It’s going to cost our residents out of pocket — it’s not something I’m willing to sign on to,” he said.