Village board approves Rockville Centre's $46 million budget

The village’s Board of Trustees adopted Rockville Centre’s 2019-20 budget during its meeting on April 1. The $46 million spending plan stayed under the state’s tax cap for the seventh straight year while maintaining all village services, according to village officials.

The budget represents a new real estate tax rate of $51.46 per $100 of net assessed valuation, an increase of 2.8 percent from the current year’s budget.

“Holding the line on taxes has been a priority of my administration,” Mayor Francis X. Murray said in a statement. “I believe this budget balances the need to hold down taxes and not impact the services that residents have come to expect and enjoy. The spending plan we are putting forth is the product of a great deal of work by the village, our comptroller and our department heads to hold down costs wherever possible.”

Trustee Michael Sepe was the only board member to vote against the budget. He had not responded to the Herald’s call at press time Tuesday.

Several months ago, Rockville Centre was recently awarded the highest rating possible from Standard & Poor’s Rating Service, earning “AAA.” Since Murray took over as mayor in 2011, the village has secured more than $32 million in local, state and federal grants and gifts to make improvements within the village, saving taxpayers additional costs, according to a village news release. Much of the money has been used to improve roadways, upgrade water and electric infrastructure, parks and services for seniors. In addition, grants have been obtained to help the Rockville Centre police and fire departments utilize state-of-the-art equipment to keep residents safe.

“We will continue to look for ways to reduce costs and bring in additional revenue to the village, including our aggressive pursuit of grant money, private/public partnerships and gifts to make improvements at little expense to our residents,” Murray said in the release.

The complete spending plan can be viewed at www.rvcny.gov.