What can $1,023 buy you? Well if you’re a village resident, quite a bit.
The Village of Westbury board of trustees approved their 2016-17 budget last week, which reflects a 0% tax levy increase. Similar to last year, Westbury residents owning a home with the average assessed value of $376,034 will pay, on average, only $1,023 for all village government services, which includes code enforcement, sanitation and public works projects such as road and sidewalk repair. The total budget is $7,828,109. 
“The budget allows us to continue all the services we’ve provided as a village in the past, there’s no major changes in any of the departments,” said Mayor Peter Cavallaro. “It’s a good responsible budget that continues the trajectory we’re on.”
Among the most significant factors affecting the budget was $334,381 of state-mandated contributions to the state retirement system; while it’s a reduction over last year’s amount, the line item on the budget has increased approximately 109% over the last seven years. There was also a 1.5% increase in labor costs as well as a projected $10,000 (5.7%) increase in the cost of general liability and workers’ compensation insurance premiums. The village has reported savings due to the consolidation of sanitation routes in 2014. The budget also allocates $10,000 for the Greater Westbury Council for the Arts.
“They do a tremendous amount of good things,” said Cavallaro. “They add a lot of richness to the community.”
Cavallaro noted that over the last seven years, the village has had three 0% budgets, with two others being minimal increases of 1 to 1.5 percent. He did caution that won’t be able to last forever.
“Our revenue has been pretty flat the last three to five years, but at some point in the future, we’ll have to consider a modest increase,” Cavallaro said, noting that an increase might happen next year or the year after. “Hopefully our past experience and discipline gives you comfort we’ll do what’s necessary to have a prudent budget to have the least impact on our taxpayers as possible.”
