Port North Approves Budget, Reappoints Officials

The Village of Port Washington North passed a $12,459,438 tentative 2011 budget on Wednesday, which will boost the tax levy by 1.4 percent in the village if ultimately approved.

The proposed budget is nearly $1 million less than the prior year's $13,458,232 budget, and it is full of various belt-tightening measures.

According to new treasurer Susan Pisano, who presented the board with the finalized proposed budget at the annual meeting, the village had to account for a drop in interest revenue, driven by recession-low interest rates.

"We made a change in that revenue number to make it more realistic," she said.

Village interest rates in the modified 2010 budget were $50,000 for the municipality. However, the tentative 2011 budget only expects $15,000.

The village lowered its mortgage tax portion of the budget as well, again due to the weak economy.

In another way to trim the budget, Pisano said the village would cut back on its legal fights in the coming year, saving Port Washington North on attorneys' fees.

"We did add a bond counsel due to some upcoming work that will be done, so that's a new increase from last year, in the amount of $25,000," she said.

Village Hall operations remained the same, Pisano said, since a measure to halt all new leases or changes to leases that decreased costs by one percent was offset by money set aside for new computers and equipment "to keep current."

The Department of Public Works also saw a budget decrease, falling from roughly $300,000 in 2010 to about $261,000 in the tentative 2011 budget.

Some departments, however, saw increases in the latest budget. Fire department allocations went up to $383,822 from $357,709. And safety inspection and public safety money increased by one percent.

Also, because of a brutally snowy winter in 2010, Pisano said cash slated for snow removal increased.

"We don't want another year like this year with snow," she said. "So we increased that by four percent just to be on the safe side."

Inadequate street lighting was also a hot topic in the budget. "We definitely need work on our street lights, and we therefore increased street lights by 12 percent."

In terms of personnel services, Pisano stated that retirement costs, which are dictated by the state, are going up and that the village had to account for those increases in the budget. Health insurance costs also rose.

"Everybody's health insurance is increasing, personally as well as in government, so we have an increase of about eight percent, bringing the total employee benefits to increase to about 14 percent," Pisano said.

Mayor Robert Weitzner facilitated the vote, leaving the floor open for any public comment or inquiries. It passed unanimously.

The approval follows an intense April 6 budget workshop in which the board toiled to keep the tax levy increase under 2 percent.

In addition to hashing out the budget, the meeting doubled as an informal inauguration ceremony for trustees Steve Cohen and Michael Malatino, who were re-elected this past March. Both Malatino and Cohen will serve on the Board of Trustees in the village for an additional two years.