By NEAL RENTZ
Lewisboro Supervisor Tony Gonçalves and his town board colleagues are considering using budget surpluses built up over several years to bring the proposed property tax increase to the state-mandated property tax cap or lower.
Next year’s budget was discussed at the Nov. 12 town board meeting.
On Oct. 28, Gonçalves proposed a tentative 2025 budget that included spending levels which would exceed the state-mandated property tax cap for the town of 2.49 percent.
The tentative budget was $1 million over the tax cap and without changes the tax rate would increase by 14.2 percent. The proposed tax levy for 2025 is $9,789,360.
However, with a recent town board consensus to increase spending in some areas, the current tax increase would be 16 percent with no further changes, Gonçalves said.
The supervisor’s tentative budget called for spending in the general fund to be $11,820.026 and the highway fund proposal is for $4.850,618 for a total of the two categories of $16,670,644, an increase of $1,393,177 in spending compared to the current year. The revenue increase in the proposed budget is $172,769.
But the town board has met twice since the supervisor released his proposed spending plan to consider changes. One of those changes could be the addition of surplus funds, which has built up over the years.
At this week’s meeting, Gonçalves said he has been working with town comptroller Annie Burnham on a plan to use surplus to hold down the tax increase for 2025.
Burnham told the town board that there is $821,000 in undesignated surplus funds that have been generated over the past several years in both the general and highway funds. Surplus money would be used to hold down the tax increase, she said.
Councilman Richard Sklarin said the surplus has been created by years of conservative budgeting dating back to 2008.
Burnham said $400,000 of the surplus is from interest income.
The town board agreed to come up with potential changes to the budget, which would be compiled by the supervisor’s office and discussed at the Nov. 25 meeting.
Gonçalves said he would like the property tax increase to meet the tax cap or be lower than the cap.
A public hearing on legislation that would give the town board the authority to break the tax cap has been scheduled for Dec. 9.
The deadline to approve the 2025 budget is Dec. 20, Gonçalves noted.
Sewer district grant
Also at this week’s meeting, Gonçalves announced that the town was recently given a grant from the state Environmental Facilities Corporation for $6.875 million for potential sewer and septic districts for the areas of Lake Waccabuc, Lake Oscaleta and Lake Rippowam.
The town board voted unanimously to accept the grant and stated its intent to proceed with the project. The town has until 2026 to finalize its intention to go forward with the project, he said.
“They actually awarded us more money than we expected,” Gonçalves said, adding there are other grants the town has received for the project. The town is still waiting for a $10 million grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, he said. The total cost of the sewer and septic projects would be $40 million, he said.
For the project to proceed a majority of property owners in the area will have to vote to approve the creation of a sewer district.
Several residents expressed their support for the water projects including Jean Levis, a member of the Three Lakes Council. In 2002 the Council hired a specialist to study the three lakes and create a lake management plan, Lewis said. The organization was told that septic effluent is an important contributor to phosphorus in the lake, she said.
“The good news in the report was that some of the phosphorus load that we are contributing is controllable,” Lewis told the town board. To improve the lakes, septic tank effluent can be transported from the area to a sewage treatment plant, which is being proposed for the three lakes, she said.
Lewis praised the town for its efforts to clean the lakes.
“You took an important step by applying for grants,” she said.
“This project is not just a benefit for the lakes. It will also help the drinking water aquifer for all residents in town,” Lewis said.
South Salem resident Susan Enos said her home has holding tanks, not a septic system, which are pumped every two years. Most of the homes in her neighborhood are located on slopes, “so the water comes down” and contaminates the lake, she said. The town should explore how to protect water from areas like her neighborhood and condominium communities, she said.
In a related matter, the town board voted unanimously to hire Woodard & Curran to map, plan and create a report for the Lake Kitchawan Septic District project using DEP funds provided by Westchester County.
The firm is receiving $97,000 for work on the Waccabuc/Truesdale/Rippowam/Oscaleta Sewer District and $71,000 for the Lake Kitchawan Septic Maintenance District.
The company is continuing to help the town to plan for the development of the new sanitary sewer infrastructure.