Village Board braces for budget work
The discussion wasn’t pretty, but in the end, the Village Board approved the refinancing of a $1,225,000 bond, originally issued in 2012 on Monday evening; the move will save village taxpayers about $68,000 in the next several years.
The matter was tabled at the board’s February 5 meeting when Trustee Dr. Melanie Guerrero questioned the cost of borrowing versus the total savings. (She explains her point of view in a letter on page 4 of our Feb. 25, 2022 edition.)
While Mayor Joe D’Onofrio continued to say that the delay was unnecessary, when it came time to vote, the matter passed unanimously.
Later in the meeting, several members of the board spoke about setting a ‘work together’ tone for budget workshops, which start this week (Thursday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center) and continue into March (Saturdays, March 5 and 12 at 9:30 a.m., also at the Senior Center). Those meetings are open to the public. They are not shown live, but typically recorded and posted on the village website.
Guerrero recalled that last year’s budget work “was not a very easy process” and noted that “there are ways to save” as taxpayers “expect us to pay meticulous detail to how we spend your money”.
Deputy Mayor Brian Aylward said that he hopes “during budget work people can stay on track and not attack each other”.
Trustee Jim DiSalvo said he hopes all board members will work hard to “be genuine with the budget numbers and explain what they mean as we use them”.
The complete Village Board meeting from this week can be viewed via a YouTube link that can be accessed at www.highlandfallsny.org.
