Approved '12 Budget Will Raise Taxes 4.7%

Harrison's Town Board approved its 2012 spending plan Thursday night, approving a budget that will raise taxes 4.71 percent without the support of Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh.

The final $54.8 million budget adds a second new police officer who will join the force in 2012, previous budget proposals had added only one. 

The board approved the budget by a 3-1 vote. Walsh (D) voted against it, Councilman Pat Vetere (D) was not present at the meeting. Republican board members Fred Sciliano, Marlane Amelio and Joseph Cannella voted in favor.

Walsh said the additional officer was a key reason she doesn't support the budget. The outgoing mayor/supervisor said she was also upset the budget will not include , which she had included in her budget in October. 

The board's Republican majority voted to eliminate those raises while approving the preliminary budget on Dec. 1. Since, the $40,000 in proposed raises was re-allocated to as well as fund minor adjustments to dozens of line items.

The new officer came as the biggest surprise Thursday. Police Chief Anthony Marraccini had originally asked for nine new officers to that had dropped from 77 in 2008 to 59 just three years later. Walsh, who has worked to cut staffing levels town-wide during her administration, had been to more officers. 

But Republicans said low staffing levels in the police department had become a safety concern.

"The department has lost a great deal of manpower," said Cannella. "Safety comes first."

Other changes include $3,500 for the town historian, who had been working without a budget, and an additional $15,000 for town justice overtime. Some of the new spending will be offset by $59,000 in additional revenue the town now projects it will receive in 2012. 

Overall, the final budget increases spending only a fraction of a percent from the preliminary budget.

An unexpected drop in the assessment role was mostly to blame for the half percent increase in the tax rate from the preliminary budget—which estimated the increase at 4.28. The final assessment for 2012 dropped $626,315.

"We were expecting it was going to drop," said Walsh. "We didn't expect it to drop that much."

The board was able to stay beneath the 2 percent tax levy cap, but it came at a price. Board members said low staffing levels across the board will continue to place a heavy burden on town employees.

"These are different times," said Amelio. "Perhaps next year or the year after things will be different."