With Mandated Cost Increases Exceeding the Cap, Village Trustees Examine Four Proposed Budget Scenarios

(Updated March 12) School districts and municipalities across New York State are struggling to bring their budgets in below the state tax cap, though contractual increases in salary and mandated increases in benefits outpace the allowable cap.

At Scarsdale Village Hall, trustees reviewed the proposed 2026-27 Village Budget and sought to close a $2.771mm gap in expenses over revenues –using option such as a tax levy increase, the use of fund balance or borrowing.

With personnel costs going up 3.5%, projected expenses exceed revenues by $2.771mm. Unlike the School Board, the Village Board votes on the budget without a public referendum. So the Board can authorize an increase above the cap. But it appeared that this year they are trying to keep the budget increase as close as possible to the allowable limit.

As the Village has not had a treasurer since last summer, they retained consultants to work with staff on formulating this year’s budget. At the meeting on Tuesday March 10, Tom Vouzakis of Capital Market Advisors presented four scenarios to close the gap between revenues and expenses.

As an exercise, Village Manager Alex Marshall asked department heads to propose 4% and 8% cuts to their budgets and some of these suggested reductions were included in the four scenarios.

The scenarios examined a range of choices to increase projected revenues and reduce projected expenses. The gap could be entirely filled by increasing taxes, and that was considered in Scenario One.

In Scenario 2, the budget gap would be addressed with a smaller increase to the tax levy and and a $1.385mm increase in appropriated fund balance.

In Scenarios 3 and 4, the board discussed increasing projected revenues for sales tax, interest earnings, a transfer from the Water Fund and charging credit card fees to recreation department users.

On the expense side, the board discussed deferring some expenses, funding others with fund balance and even borrowing to pay for a $980,000 replacement of the roof of Village Hall.

For instance, there was $150,000 in the budget for renovations to the former A-School building on Wayside Lane. However, since the Village is unsure about the future use of the building and is conducting a needs assessment, Trustees discussed deferring those renovations until it’s clear how the space will be utilized. Other recommendations included reducing the budget for the fireworks, decreasing vehicle purchases, spending less on sidewalk improvements and funding a playground renovation by using funds from the recreational trust.

At the conclusion of the work session Trustees indicated a preference for adopting a mixture of the adjustments listed in scenario 3 and 4.

You can see the scenarios and the entire list of proposed adjustments here: 

The Mayor discussed the proposed budget  and 5.8% increase in Village taxes at the opening of the Village Board meeting on March 10, saying, “It pains us that we have to present a budget above the tax cap. Though Village taxes only represent 20% of your real estate tax bill, they are still a burden on all of us. Our fixed costs are increasing more than 5%, driven by personnel costs from labor agreements. Over the last five years, 1/3 of Village costs increases are due to personnel costs. The number of full time employees has not grown. This should give you an understanding of why it is landing where it is.”

Stormwater

After the meeting we following up with Assistant Village Manager Emily Giovanni to get clarification on which, if any, of the proposed stormwater improvement projects would be done in the next fiscal year. 

Areas of current project development and design under this program (Costs updated as of 12/2025 and include design and construction):

-George Field Park/Cambridge/Oxford and Rugby Road - $8,470,000

-Cushman, Garden, Sheldrake and Willow - $7,340,000

-Griffen Avenue culvert between Brittany Close and Mamaroneck Road - $750,000 (partially paid for by the Town of Mamaroneck)

-Chesterfield Road (between Brite and Oak), Paddington/Ogden/Fox Meadow Road intersection - Cost TBD

-Catherine Road/Canterbury Road/Cayuga Road area - $20+ Million

Giovanni explained, " The current financial plan assumes roughly $4.1 million in Village funding paired with approximately $4.1 million in anticipated reimbursement through stormwater mitigation grants. The projects listed on the capital sheet represent locations within the Village’s broader stormwater improvement program. At this stage, all of these projects are advancing at different paces, with several having been the subject of grant submissions to Westchester County’s stormwater mitigation program. Because the projects are in varying stages of design, permitting, and grant review, further public discussion will need to occur prior to advancement of any particular project. The proposed FY 2026–27 funding primarily supports continued design work, engineering, and grant coordination as the Village advances these projects toward implementation."