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Scarsdale Trustees Adopt $48.5 Million Budget

SCARSDALE, N.Y. – In a unanimous vote, the Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees adopted its 2012-13 budget Tuesday night.

The budget sets forth a $48,445,129 spending plan, compared with $46,955,697 in 2011-12, an increase of $1,489,432. It comes with a tax rate of $228.42 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. Compared with the current $229.09 rate, this represents a 4.07 percent increase from 2011-12.

"The budget process is one of the most important, if not the most important, activities undertaken by this board," Trustee and Finance Committee Chairman Robert Steves said in introducing the resolution to adopt the budget.

The figures represent a decrease from the March 16 proposed budget, which carried a tax rate of $241.68, which would have been 5.5 percent higher than the current budget. The savings were achieved in part because of the mild winter creating a greater budget surplus this year, some borrowing, and a decision to use some of the village fund balance.

According to Village Treasurer Mary Lou McClure, the budget comes in under the state's new tax levy cap. The Board of Trustees had passed a local law allowing it to exceed the cap, but that proved to be unnecessary.

Steves praised Village Manager Alfred A. Gatta for his work in bringing in an initial proposal that was under the cap and then working with the board to increase spending on capital projects while holding the tax rate down.

Trustee Robert Harrison praised Gatta and McClure for "diligent work over a long period of time," and gave a nod to Steves for "keeping the discussion open for a number of meetings" as the board worked out the details.

Unlike the school budget, the village budget does not require a public vote.

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