Village Budget Is Okayed

The East Hampton Village Board formally adopted a budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year at its meeting on Friday. At $20.68 million, the budget is slightly higher than the $20.53 million proposal unveiled last month and includes a tax levy increase of .3 percent, well under the property tax cap. The fiscal year begins on Aug. 1.

Rebecca Molinaro, the village administrator, detailed “minor changes” to the original plan, among them funding to extend the paid emergency services program so that a first responder can be on staff around the clock seven days a week. Other changes include a small addition to the $128,000 increase already proposed for ambulance services; the addition of $40,000 to repair the drainage system in the Emergency Services Building’s parking lot, and a minor increase in the snow removal budget. Last winter’s snowfall “well exceeded the budget,” Ms. Molinaro said.

Along with the tax levy increase, to $28.52 per $100 of assessed value, increases in building permit revenues, beach parking permits, and the mortgage-recording tax are expected to boost non-property tax revenue. The village will also save money by having some maintenance work performed in-house, rather than contracting with an outside company. The refinancing of two bonds also reduced long-term debt.

The village board will hold an organizational meeting on Wednesday at 11 a.m. After that meeting, it will not convene again until August.