Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
December 1, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 48 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Town budget proposes 2.45 percent tax increase By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
TITANS COME UP BIG Rye Town/Harrison forward Joe Bucci
fires a puck towards the net against Monroe-Woodbury on Nov. 24. The Titans won all three of their games at the Guy Matthews Thanksgiving Invitational Hockey Tournament last weekend. For story, see page 15. Photo/Mike Smith
Third-graders travel to Amazon rainforest with Google’s Expedition Third-grade students at F.E. Bellows Elementary School traveled to the Amazon rainforest and explored a variety of destinations without leaving their classrooms as part of Google’s Expeditions program, which allows students to experience a virtual 3-D environment. Using Google’s viewers and
smartphones, the students-who had been studying the Amazon rainforest and animal adaptations in their classes-visited the Borneo rainforest, as well as a school, playground and factory where local farmers bring their crops. William McKeon, the library media specialist at the school, used the Expeditions program ap-
plication and tablet to guide them along their virtual trip. “Being able to virtually step onto the forest floor and look up through the understory and onward toward the canopy gives the students a true understanding not only of the different parts of the rainforest, but they also get a feel for the vastness and importance
of the forest,” McKeon said. “A close-up look at animals of the rainforest is an exciting way to view animal adaptations in a ‘natural’ setting and bring into view what was only an abstract idea for most.” The students also learned EXPEDITION continued on page 8
On sound financial footing, the town of Mamaroneck will work toward the adoption of its 2018 budget, and with it, a modest tax rate increase that falls below the state-imposed tax cap. In the coming year’s tentative budget—which is set to be adopted in December and was originally introduced on Oct. 18—the town proposed a tax levy increase of $614,589, or 2.45 percent, which would clock in just below the New York state-imposed tax levy cap of 2.63 percent. The budget will total a little more than $39.1 million with a spending increase of 3.5 percent, or about $1.3 million over the current year’s budget. Aiding the town in its modest tax levy increase is what is being characterized as a healthy real estate market that saw increased home sales and an uptick in the average home value from $1.22 million to $1.25 million in 2017. According to the budget, in 2017, the town saw an increase of nearly $300 million in taxable property value. A holistic revaluation of the town’s property conducted four years ago has helped increase property values and the tax base. Like most other municipalities across Westchester County and New York state, the town has also turned to other forms of revenue to help bolster its primary
tax driver, property taxes, which account for more than 66 percent of its revenue. A tentative budget for 2018 proposes raising recreation fees—in part, due to the expansion of hockey and summer camp programs—by $94,000 and also building fees for licenses and permits by $78,000 over the current 2017 budget. While this year’s budget will maintain the town’s level of services, it will reduce its staff from 128 full-time positions to 127. According to Town Administrator Stephen Altieri, the town has reduced a full-time administrative position into a part-time role. Salaries for town employees— the biggest budgetary expense for the town—will grow by 3.3 percent to just under $15 million with all of the town’s major unions under contract as of 2017. Down the road, Altieri said that the town will budget for millions of dollars in sewer repairs meant to stop the process of water inflow into Mamaroneck’s sewer pipes. He said that the town finished conducting an analysis of its sewer infrastructure in September and as part of an agreement with the county, and spurred by a lawsuit from environmental advocacy group Save the Sound, the town will look to invest about $2.8 million into repairs. TAX continued on page 9