SOMERS, N.Y. – The Somers Town Board adopted a $13.2 million budget for 2013 that raises spending 4.18 percent but carries a tax levy increase of 1.84 percent.
“We moved some things around to different categories,” said Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy, “but we still managed to stay under the 2 percent tax levy cap.”
“The cap is tough to deal with,” said board member Tom Garrity. “We get a better handle on it because we start the process as early as October. We’ve always been cautious and conservative with the taxpayers’ money, and I think we’ve done it again here, but I’m not sure we can stay under the cap in the future.”
Board member Richard Clinchy said, “It's difficult to stay under the cap and still meet residents’ expectations and deliver services. About 20 percent of the municipalities have gone over the cap.”
Garrity responded, “Mary Beth [Murphy] always leads us through the process very well, from the preliminaries onward. Hopefully we’ll be able to do the same in years to come.”
Murphy said, “We couldn’t do it without everyone’s participation. We were at 1.8 percent.”
Almost 76 percent of a Somers property owner's tax bill is allocated to the school system. An additional 14.6 percent goes to Westchester County. The Somers Fire District gets 2.7 percent, and the town itself is allotted nearly 7 percent.
Of the town’s 7 percent, 24 percent supports the Highway Department, 8 percent goes to the library, 5.6 percent is allotted to debt service and the remaining 62.4 percent goes to general spending such as administrative expenses, employee benefits, Parks and Recreation, police, and insurance.
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