Village passes $41 million, status quo 2020-21 budget

On Monday night, the Valley Stream board of trustees passed a fiscal year 2020-21 budget of more than $41 million, excluding library expenses, during a hearing held by remote teleconference. The fiscal year begins June 1.

The budget is largely status quo, maintaining services and programs as they have been in previous years. The village’s tax levy — the total amount it must collect in taxes to meet expense — increased 1.79 percent to roughly $31 million, and the average homeowner can expect a $42.35 village tax increase, according to Valley Stream Treasurer Mike Fox. The average homeowner currently pays roughly $2,500 without exemptions.

The budget passed by a 4-1 vote, with Trustee Vincent Grasso voting against it due to concerns over budgetary uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has cut off, at least temporarily, revenue streams such as ticket payments. Additionally, the financial hardship created by the virus, he said, has also raised the possibility for missed property-tax payments.

“In a time of crisis we should over prepare,” Grasso said, noting the unprecedented nature of the outbreak. 

Services such as the Hendrickson Park pool and Barrett Park summer camp program will remain in place pending the lifting of state restrictions on public gatherings intended to combat the coronavirus, Fox said. Should the bans be lifted, he said, the services would be ready to open by summer.

The budget continues efforts to shore up village finances — with payroll reduced to 151 employees compared to the previous year’s 154, and $250,000 set aside for reserves — after Moody’s Investors Services downgraded its bond rating to Ba1 last February, citing years of structurally unbalanced budgets and a dwindling reserve, placing it in the junk category.

“We’ve been doing a very good job with our fiscal plan to reduce overall payroll,” Fox said.

With village court closed, and the general economic devastation caused by the virus, however, Grasso said he worries the budget might not fully account for potential year-end revenue shortfalls caused by the virus, and that in light of the downgrade, harder decisions need to be made. 

"The worst case scenario is if we raise revenue, we can return it in some way to residents," he said. 

“For several years the warning lights have been flashing as we’ve received indicators from various agencies about our finances. This crisis threatens to put us further behind,” he said. “My concern with the budget is that it was developed before we had the vantage point we do now, and I believe serious adjustments and hard decisions had to be made in light of it.”

Fox acknowledged that the virus had raised concerns late in the process. “Up until the last few weeks, there weren’t that many challenges,” he said, but with temporarily shuttered services also come some savings.

“If we’re not holding court to earn revenue, we’re also not paying overtime, so there are corresponding decreases in expenses,” he said. “Between contingencies and planning [the budget] is still a fair, good-faith effort for what our expenses are going to look like for this coming year.”