Lynbrook mayor on the ‘State of the Village’

Lynbrook Mayor William Hendrick issued his State of the Village address on Jan. 23, outlining the board’s accomplishments in 2011, the projects on the horizon in 2012, the problems they have overcome and potential hurdles they will face in the near future.

The speech was mostly upbeat from Hendrick as he kicked off his address by acknowledging the village’s “Aa” bond rating from Moody’s Investor Service. Hendrick said Moody’s first issued the “Aa” bond rating in 2009 and the village has maintained it ever since. According to Hendrick, it is the highest rating Lynbrook has received since Moody’s started ranking the village 39 years ago.

“When compared to all other cities and villages in New York State, last year Lynbrook reached 44 percent of its constitutional tax limit and has exhausted only 15 percent of its debt limit — that’s for bonding,” Hendrick said. “That makes Lynbrook, USA a relatively low-taxed, low-debt community.”

Lynbrook closed the recent fiscal years with more than a $3.6 million surplus, which two outside auditors said was due to, “good fiscal government,” Hendrick said. The surplus will be put to good use, according to Hendrick.

“The Village of Lynbrook is facing a set of fiscal challenges that are found at all levels of government today,” he said. “Fortunately, revenue and expense projections have come in on target, resulting in a $3.6M surplus, which we will use to stabilize the 2012 budget.”

Hendrick and the Board of Trustees will look to stretch Lynbrook’s budget in these tough economic times. “Like every other municipality in the state, we are continuing to look for immediate reductions and expenses, along with long term solutions,” Hendrick said. Some of the strategies outlined were doing more with less and extending the life of equipment and vehicles.

Hendrick said he and the board agreed recently agreed to sign a 15-year energy conservation performance contract with Johnson Controls, which will reduce energy costs by 32 percent.