The Orangetown Council added a special meeting to tonight's workshop beginning at 8 p.m. at town hall to complete two public hearings and adopt the 2014 town budget.
The town board left public hearings regarding the contract with the Blauvelt Fire Protection District and the 2014 budget open during its meeting Nov. 12.
The special meeting was set to allow the council to adopt the 2014 budget in time to submit it to the state. The proposal currently on the table, the Orangetown preliminary budget, is unchanged from the tentative plan put forward by Supervisor Andy Stewart Sept. 24, but that is likely to change before the final version is adopted.
The other four members of the council offered amendments to the budget Nov. 12, but a limited number of likely changes have been made public. Funding to fill a vacant assistant building inspector position is likely to be added and $250,000 to Rockland County for college chargebacks is expected to be removed. The proposed budget comes in below the state mandated tax levy cap and the final version must stay that way because the council voted against giving itself the right to exceed the cap.
Stewart said he expects to see between $600,000 and $700,000 cut from the preliminary budget and Councilman Tom Diviny has stated that the board will reduce the $3.5 million in fund balance spending. Among other issues discussed:
- Increasing Orangetown Highway Department overtime for leaf pickup to the level requested by HIghway Superintendent James Dean.
- Reduction of funding to Orangtown's Libraries
- Funding for the recently vacated full-time position in the Orangetown Receiver of Taxes position. Receiver of Taxes Robert Simon has pushed for the position to be filled. Diviny said that matter would be revisited after the results were in from the Nov. 5 referendum on eliminating the office as of Jan. 1, 2018. The referendum passed.
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