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2008 Adopted Budget
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Why do my taxes seem to go up every year?
Simple answer is the Village spends money on personnel services, equipment and contractual items. Although the Village attempts to efficiently obtain and use the resources, the price of these things goes up every year.
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What are the Village’s more significant expenditures?
Personnel Costs. 67.6% of the Village’s General Fund are to pay the salaries and fringe benefits of those municipal workers that you routinely see like the Police Officer on patrol and the Sanitation Worker making his rounds. The Village also has numerous employees that you may not see on a daily basis like the Risk Manager that manages the Village’s insurance costs or the Treasurer that manages the village’s money.
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Why have Insurance Costs skyrocketed?
The insurance industry is across the board experiencing the collapse of what they called a soft market. Basically, the industry made a lot of money in other places (e.g. like the stock market) and could charge less for insurance. Now since they are not making as much money, they must price the service against it’s real cost. In addition, the last few years this industry has see a sharp increase in claims due to the many natural disasters such as hurricanes and flooding.
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Why are there so many funds, it’s difficult to read this budget?
The village is obligated to keep the ‘books’ using fund accounting. It is a method by which resources and expenditures for different activities are kept separate.
The water and sewer funds have their own sets of books and so does the general fund. We realize that the budget is sometimes difficult to read, we have again revamped this years budget to help the reader. The staff of the Village Treasurer’s office as well as the Manager’s office are available to answer any questions that you may have.
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Will I have input into the budget?
A public hearing is always held during the second meeting of November on the annual budget. In addition, the Village Board holds monthly meetings to solicit taxpayer input throughout the year.
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What is Fund Balance, and why should we preserve its level?
Fund Balance is equivalent to corporate retained earnings. It is the residual balance that accumulates each year when revenues exceed expenditures. State authorities recommend that local governments maintain a fund balance of around 15-25% of the operating budget. Fund balance is recommended to ward off cash flow problems, and to ensure that the village can remain operating.
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How much Debt does the village have?
At December 31, 2007 the village will have a total of $22,365,000 of Long Term Bonds and $1,166,440 in Short Term Bond Anticipation Notes. $152,860 of the short-term notes will be retired in 2007. The total principal and interest payments of $2,948,280 will be made on the Long term Bonds.
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Is that Too Much Debt?
The Village has exhausted only 12.72% of its Constitutional Debt Limit as of December 31, 2006. The Village of Ossining manages the long-term debt and is obligated to follow strict issuing guidelines.
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Who watches the Village’s Money?
The Board of Trustees provides budgetary authority through the adoption of an annual budget, approving all issuance of long-term debt and maintaining general oversight responsibility. The Village is staffed with professional accountants who maintain the books and records relating to the revenues and expenditures of the village. They also invest the Village’s money in conservative investments governed by state statute and the Village’s investment policy. In addition, the village board annually retains the services of an independent certified public accounting firm to audit the records and issue their opinion on the financial statements. The Village is also required to report to various state and federal authorities and is subject to audit or review at any time by the Office of the State Comptroller.
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When are my taxes due?
The tax bill is due and payable in two equal installments. The first installment is due during the month of January and the second installment is due during the month of July. The Finance office hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 am until 4:30pm. To better serve the community, the Finance office will be open 9:00am until noon on the last Saturday in both months of January and July. Additionally, by visiting us on our web site, WWW.VillageofOssining.org, you can pay your taxes on line during the penalty free periods of January and July.
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Waiving of Penalties, can it be done?
The New York State Constitution provides that a municipality CANNOT waive penalties on real estate taxes received after the due date FOR ANY REASON. It would be deemed a gift of taxpayers fund.
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