Mayor’s Comments
Good evening, welcome to our first regular meeting of March. Before we begin, I want to recognize a few observances that are meaningful to many in our community, including a couple that have recently passed and several that are underway right now. Recently, many neighbors celebrated Purim, a joyful holiday in the Jewish community, and Holi, the Festival of Colors, celebrated by many in the Hindu community. March is also a month of important, month-long recognitions, including Women's History Month, honoring the contributions and achievements of women throughout our nation's history. March 8th was also International Women's Day. Irish American Heritage Month is celebrated this month, recognizing the legacy of Irish Americans and shaping our communities. For many residents, Ramadan is also underway. Ramadan is expected to continue through much of this month. To everyone observing, I want to again say Ramadan Mubarak and wish you a month of reflection, compassion, and peace. Looking ahead, Eid Al Fitr is expected around March 20th or 21st. Saint Patrick's Day is Tuesday, March 17th, and because the third Tuesday in March happens to be Saint Patrick's Day, election day automatically moves to Wednesday. March 18th is Village Election Day at the Library, from 6 am to 9 pm. Please vote. Scarsdale is strongest when we make room for one another's traditions and take the time to acknowledge what matters to our neighbors.
Now to my budget comments. I also want to say a few words about the budget, but I don't really mean a few. New York State's property tax cap for us this year is approximately 3.65%
increase to the tax levy. But if you take the core cost drivers, we do not fully control – personnel costs, largely set by collective bargaining agreements, and benefits costs driven by pension obligations, and the insurance markets – those increases alone put us at roughly 5%. That is before we account for inflationary pressures across the rest of the budget, the everyday cost of serving residents, and the investments we still need to make in core infrastructure, facilities, and community resources. Only after that do we even get to the question of whether there are new or expanded services the community wants us to consider. That is a fundamental problem, because it means the only path to stay within the tax cap is to reduce services or defer important maintenance and improvements. And let's be clear, in municipal government, deferred maintenance is just a deferred tax increase with the promise of future higher costs. It is a bill we are passing to ourselves a few years down the road at a much higher price tag due to more repairs to be addressed, plus inflation, supply chain issues, and potential tariffs.
I will be candid. It pains me and my colleagues whenever we even have to contemplate a budget that exceeds the tax cap, not because the cap always reflects the real cost pressures municipalities face (it often doesn't), but because exceeding it still means a higher burden on all of us and our neighbors. As residents, Village taxes may only be about 20% of our total tax bills, but that does not make any increase feel smaller. We consistently do what we can to continue delivering the services that our residents expect, and in addition to continuing the high level of services, we also want to continue investing in our community. This is not about having the best of everything. It is about sustaining the quality and functionality of what makes Scarsdale work day-to-day. Think things like reliable infrastructure, well-maintained facilities, and community assets like our fields and playgrounds.
After tonight's work session, the tax levy we discussed in Scenario Four is expected to be approximately 5.8%. While the proposed increase is still a placeholder until the work is complete, and we expect this number to come down some, I want residents to understand why it is landing where it is and what we are doing about it.
As I noted, approximately five percentage points of this increase are driven by personnel expenses, including costs tied to labor agreements and payments into state retirement systems and other benefits. The remaining roughly 0.8 percentage points reflect other increases, such as inflationary pressures on supplies, materials, and programs, as well as investments we believe are important to the community. I want to now briefly discuss near-term budget discipline, medium-term structural work, and external partnerships and state advocacy.
Near-term Budget Discipline
First, I hope community members will watch our budget work sessions, including the one that just preceded this meeting. You will see that at least two of the scenarios presented, and in the scenario I believe we are moving forward with, staff and board members worked hard to find real ways to reduce the deficit. Just plugging a hole with property taxes is not an option for any of us. We are also continuing the work we do every year to find savings and hold the line where we can. In the proposed budget, our headcount is not increasing. In fact, the Village Manager has recommended a reduction in headcount by at least two part-time positions in the coming fiscal year, and after the scenarios are finalized, our unassigned fund balance is projected to be near the lower end of our 15% policy threshold. That is still a healthy position, but it reinforces why we need to be disciplined on both the spending and revenue sides of the budget.
Medium-term Structural Work
Beyond this year's budget, we need to have a serious, holistic conversation with the community about services and structures. Previous boards have periodically examined potential service reductions or restructurings, and in most cases, the community has been clear. Residents value what the village provides and do not want those services reduced. That feedback matters, but at the same time, the added cost burdens we are all feeling make it responsible to revisit this analysis again – carefully, transparently, and with real options on the table.
And I want to be very clear about something: we value our village staff deeply. We appreciate their professionalism, their dedication, and the work they do every day for our community. When we talk about controlling costs over time, we are not talking about layoffs or terminations. Any reductions we believe are possible or even hope to accomplish should be achieved through attrition, careful planning, and redesigning how work gets done, not by showing people the door. But attrition only works if it is strategic. It cannot be a last-minute decision made only when a vacancy appears. It has to be part of a longer view. What do we want Village Hall and village staffing to look like five years from now? And how do we get there responsibly while maintaining core services? And if we are going to meaningfully reduce staff over time, the biggest driver will be decisions about what services we offer, how we offer them, and where shared or alternative approaches make sense. Technology helps, and we are investing in it because it can help us work smarter, improve service delivery, and reduce avoidable costs over time. But the hard look this year is not only at operations, it is at the services we deliver and the structure behind them, because that is where the real long-term savings and staffing flexibility will come from.
External Partnerships and State Advocacy
We were also looking beyond our borders in two important ways. First, on shared services. Former Westchester County Executive George Latimer initiated work on a menu of services that could potentially be shared across municipalities throughout the county. Unfortunately, that work was never finalized. I have spoken with County Executive Ken Jenkins and expressed Scarsdale’s strong willingness to partner with him and his team to restart that effort, so we can explore opportunities to work more closely together and save money, not only for Scarsdale but for municipalities across Westchester County.
Second, we are working with organizations, like the Westchester Municipal Officials Association and the New York Conference of Mayors, as well as with our elected representatives at the state level, to advocate for greater state support for local municipalities. This year, through sustained advocacy, we have seen small increases in state funding to local governments, and that is progress, but even with those improvements, it does not come close to keeping pace with the rising costs associated with pension obligations, health insurance, prevailing wage requirements, and other state mandates that continue to drive municipal budgets across New York.
Over the past five years, more than a third of the growth in our expenses has come from employee benefit costs alone, including pensions and health insurance, much of which is driven by state systems, rather than decisions made by this board. And I think it's important to note that our total FTE count has not grown over the past five years. We will continue working with our partners and our elected officials to ensure the state understands the impact these costs have on communities like ours. None of this works without an honest partnership with the community. At the end of the day, these choices belong to all of Scarsdale. Our fiscal foundation is strong, and we intend to keep it that way. That is why it is also our responsibility to do the analysis, present real options, and make tough decisions when they are needed.
Thank you.
Manager’s Comments
You may notice that our Village website, scarsdale.gov, has a fresh new look! We've recently worked with our vendor civicplus to update our pages and menus to be more user friendly and visually appealing to the public. We even have new photographs on the home page that really highlight the beauty of the Village. Please check it out and let us know what you think.
I also wanted to mention that attached to the Manager's comments section of the agenda tonight is the draft Annual MS4 report prepared by Superintendent Coleman. This report is an annual requirement by the DEC which must be filed April 1st and included on a Village Board agenda prior to filing. The attached report includes different categories and minimum standards for stormwater that are monitored and reported throughout the year. I want to thank Superintendent Coleman, Village Engineer David Goessl, and our consultants who make sure we are always timely and comprehensive with this annual report. If there are any questions about the attached draft report, I am happy to share them with Superintendent Coleman so we can address them in our annual filing. If there are no questions on this topic, that will conclude my Manager's comments this evening.