Irvington — 2.5 % Tax Rate Increase
There are no big surprises in Irvington’s 2015-2016 budget. “The tax rate increase is 2.5 %,” says Village Administrator Lawrence Schopfer. “That is compliant with the tax cap. It’s actually almost $183,000 under the tax cap.” The slight increase can almost entirely be attributed to a large increase in the cost of worker’s compensation insurance for the Village and smaller increases in health insurance and debt services.
Since the final budget numbers came in under the tax levy cap, there was no need for a reduction in the Village workforce. As anyone driving down Main Street knows, the biggest infrastructure project currently underway in Irvington is the Town Hall Restoration Project. This $1.6 million project will continue through the summer, but is not the only project residents can expect. Like Tarrytown, the Village will be switching all of their lighting to LED lighting, and though the Village Capital Budget had not been completed by the time of this writing, Schopfer has other work he expects to be undertaken. “I’m expecting there to be paving done this summer and also some drainage and road repair done as a result of the winter damage,” he says. “We had a pretty tough winter on the roads.” For their Government Efficiency Plan, Irvington will be joining the other villages of the area in a number of cost-saving moves, such as the already mentioned LED lighting, turning over the preparation of assessment rolls to the Town of Greenburgh, and sharing the costs of the Pothole Killer machine with the other villages. The end result is a Government Efficiency Plan which is compliant with the requirements of the tax freeze legislation.
