Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioner Shaffer proposes using $282,210 from fund balance to trim Elmsford tax rate by about 1%
Summary
At an Elmsford council work session, members reviewed the tentative budget and discussed a proposal by Commissioner Shaffer to appropriate $282,210 from unassigned fund balance—and up to $372,210 for transparency—to reduce the town's tax rate roughly 1%. Line items for fire and radio systems were also adjusted.
Elmsford, N.Y. — The Town Council on Friday reviewed its tentative municipal budget and discussed a proposal to use unassigned fund balance to lower the tax rate by about one percentage point.
Commissioner Mr. Shaffer told colleagues the town "would be appropriating $282,210 from unassigned fund to balance the budget," and that appropriating an additional roughly $90,000 would produce a 1% reduction in the tax rate. He said that would change the levy from $15,075,000 to $14,985,000 and lower the rate to approximately "$10.73." Council members confirmed the math and noted that a full transparency figure would increase the fund-balance appropriation to $372,210.
A staff member cautioned that the figures on screen reflected changes made at the previous meeting and that the printed tentative budget displayed a lower baseline (noted as "273" while the updated total was "300"). The staff member also flagged specific line-item changes: a radio systems carryover listed as $12,000 for 2026 (previous years showed small budgeted sums with no spending) and several fire department increases made at the department's request.
On the fire budget, staff said the council had approved increases to uniforms and badges (from $4,000 to $6,000), annual inspection expense (from $17,500 to $20,000) and fire department operations (from $8,000 to $10,000), bringing that department's new total to "1,784,200." The council also reviewed vehicle-lease entries and a placeholder line for senior-citizen personnel that staff said had no charges to date.
Council members repeatedly confirmed department lines throughout the meeting, and department liaisons (Treasurer, Clerk, fire and public works officials) were asked for any last questions. No formal vote on the budget or the proposed fund-balance appropriation was recorded during the work session; the meeting concluded with a procedural motion to adjourn that was carried by voice vote.
Why it matters: Using fund balance to lower the tax rate shifts the immediate burden from taxpayers to reserves; it reduces near-term tax pressure but reduces available reserves for future contingencies. Any formal change to the levy or the definitive appropriation must be adopted in subsequent proceedings.
What happens next: Council members did not take a formal vote on the budget at this work session. The discussion identified specific dollar adjustments staff will carry forward for formal consideration at a future meeting.
Quote: "If we appropriated another 90,000, we could get it to a 1% reduction," Shaffer said during the discussion. "So, Mayor, in order to that, what we would do is we would levy 14,985,000 dollars...which would bring the tax rate down to $10.73."
