Politics & Government

Walsh: Harrison Will Not Override Tax Cap in 2012

Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh said she expects the town to stay under the 2 percent tax cap in 2012, meaning the tax rate would increase approximately 4.6 percent.

More than $1.1 million in savings will need to be found in the 2012 Harrison budget by the end of December in order for the town to stay beneath the two percent tax cap imposed by New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature for 2012.

Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh, who must file her superintendent’s budget by Oct. 31, said she expects to get there.

"It will happen," Walsh said Tuesday. "The goal is to stay underneath the two percent cap and I'm committed."

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If that goal is reached and is approved by the Harrison Town Board, it would mean a 4.6 percent tax rate increase in 2012, or an additional $20 per-month for a home currently valued at $1 million. Although there is a two percent tax cap on the levy, the tax rate would increase more than that because of another year of dropping assessments.

But even reaching that point means difficult decisions are ahead, the town board will need to find savings from a previous budget that was already trimmed significantly in 2011, Walsh said.

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's going to mean very painful decisions for all of us," Walsh said at a budget presentation last week.

Already included in the budget are increases of approximately $2 million in major expenditures such as retirement, major medical and employee raises. Under the tax cap, the town can levy just more than $1 million in additional spending.

To stay beneath the cap Walsh said she will continue to evaluate everything in the budget. The current supervisor, who will run for re-election in November, said she isn't ready at this time to release specific cuts, but is confident she can find savings within Harrison's approximately $41 million budget.

"Line by line, body by body, program by program, you have to look at all of them," Walsh said, adding that she has met with each department for their budget presentations and will now evaluate the needs within each.

"We are down to the crunch of it," she said. "We're going to do it."

After the supervisor's budget is completed on Oct. 31, the town board will have until Dec. 20 to approve a final budget for 2012.


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