(Photo by Frank Rizzo)
Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth submitted a tentative 2020 town budget to the town board and town clerk at the end of last month. The board will vote on whether to approve the budget on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
Bosworth praised the team behind the budget, which, if accepted, would keep the town under the tax cap for the sixth-straight time since she took office in 2014.
“This budget reflects the collective effort of our commissioners, and department heads as well as our finance team who crafted a budget that once again will stay under the tax cap,” Bosworth said in a press release. “I commend our commissioners for working with our dedicated finance team to make this budget happen.”
The tentative budget totals $135 million, and would result in a total per-household tax increase of $18.25. Bosworth wrote in the conclusion of the proposal that the tax levy in the budget will stay under the tax cap no matter what changes wind up being made, but the tax rate may change as a result of the countywide property reassessment.
The budget is divided into the following three departments:
General Fund
The tentative 2020 budget allocates $69.27 million for the town’s General Fund, which covers services and departments available to all town residents, like town parks and the Department of Public Safety. Currently, the general-fund tax is set to increase $11.47 per household.
Town Outside Village (TOV) Fund
The TOV fund covers services for town residents who live outside the boundaries of North Hempstead’s incorporated villages. If passed, the current version of the budget would provide $38.3 million for the fund for services like snow removal, code enforcement and road maintenance. TOV Fund taxes are set to go up $6.78 per household if the current budget passes.
Special Districts
The Town of North Hempstead contains 46 total special districts, 20 administered directly by the town and 26 commissioner-operated districts—mostly library, garbage and water districts—with independently-elected boards. A total of $27.7 million has been set aside in the budget for these special districts.
The Town Supervisor praised the budget for keeping tax increases and spending within expected levels while still managing to avoid significant cuts to to what she called “quality of life” services.
The town board will hold one more public hearing on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m before the Oct. 30 final vote date.
