Taxes Will Go Down a Bit in Sag Harbor

Sag Harbor Village’s budget will pierce the state-mandated tax levy cap for the 2016-17 fiscal year, which begins in June. The village board adopted a $9.24 million budget last week.

The general fund budget calls for a 7.69 percent increase, or $660,000, over the current year, about $8.58 million. The hike is largely due to increases in salary, attributed mainly to the settlement of the police and Civil Service Employees Association contracts in the past year, according to Eileen Tuohy, the village treasurer. In the police department alone, there was an increase of 18 percent.

The budget, which goes over the cap by just under $200,000, or three-quarters of a percent, was approved unanimously at a meeting on April 12. The village would have been allowed to raise the tax levy 2.8 percent, Ms. Tuohy said.

Even with the increase in spending and a pierced cap, homeowners will see a small tax rate decrease, from about 2.742 to 2.739 per $1,000 of assessed value, thanks to an increase of about $133 million in assessed valuation. (The Bulova and West Water Street condominiums received certificates of occupancy this past year and are now on the tax rolls.) A property owner with a house assessed at $795,000, for example, will pay about $2,177 in village taxes this coming year, as opposed to $2,179 in 2015-16.

The village board also approved a budget for its sewer fund of about $643,000. That reflects a 10.58 percent, or $61,494, increase. The board put aside $75,000 in its appropriated fund balance for the general fund, and $20,000 in its sewer fund.