Pelham Town Board Approves $3.4M Budget for 2012

The approved a $3.4 million budget for 2012 during Monday’s town board meeting.

The $3,425,357.55 budget represents a -5.5931 percent decrease from this year’s spending plan. The tax levy, the portion of the budget funded through property taxes, was set at $1,570,857. That represents a 1.846 percent increase from this year’s tax levy.

Earlier this year, the town board expressed concern that the levy would exceed the state’s mandated 2 percent cap on property taxes.

These concerns centered around a 21 percent increase in state mandated employee pension costs, the to the Pelham Guidance Council, a looming $107,000 roof project for the Pelham Public Library this year and the possibility that the Pelham Fields Committee will request additional funding for future field improvements.

A supermajority, or at least 60 percent, of the five-member the town board would have been needed in order to override the tax cap.

However, board members managed to trim the tax levy increase to under 2 percent when they submitted their tentative budget in November.

The tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value for the town budget is $0.52512723 for residential property owners and $0.70234323 for commercial residences.

Below is a look at the town's budget and tax levy dating back to 2006.

(Source for the years 2006-2010:Office of the New York State Comptroller)