Riverdale Park projects $13.13M in FY27 revenue; growth driven by assessments not rate increases

Deputy Director Jones presented the town’s fiscal 2027 revenue forecast at the Feb. 23 work session, projecting $13,130,000 in revenue compared with $12,574,000 in estimated FY26 actuals. Jones said the increase is primarily assessment-driven and a result of stronger income-tax performance rather than new revenue categories or a tax‑rate increase. He emphasized that staff are not proposing a tax-rate increase in this presentation.

Jones provided a breakdown of revenue composition: local taxes account for roughly 70% (~$9.19 million), community safety programs about 24% (~$3.2 million), and smaller categories include licenses and permits ($222,000), fines and forfeitures ($66,000), grants ($267,000) and other revenue ($147,000). He also summarized constant‑yield notices: residential net assessable base $589.1 million with a constant yield rate of 0.65453 (current rate 0.6890); commercial net assessable base $390.8 million with constant yield 0.7355 (current 0.7500).

Jones flagged structural revenue risks: enforcement-based revenues can fluctuate, grant revenue is typically non-recurring, and a commercial‑residential imbalance — residential assessment growth (~6.8%) substantially outpacing commercial growth (~2%) — could shift more of the tax burden to homeowners over time. He noted the town does not anticipate using reserve transfers in FY27, unlike FY26 when a $147,000 transfer occurred.

Council members asked for multi-year growth data; Jones offered to send a five‑year growth plan to the council. The presentation closed with staff noting the FY27 figures are a snapshot and subject to change as the budget process continues.