Fire District levy up 3.3% for 2011


The Shelter Island Fire District adopted a revised 2011 budget on October 25, after a public hearing on October 19.

The total budget is $800,470, the bulk of which, $761,210, will be paid from property taxes. That’s 3.3 percent higher than the current levy of $736,908.

But taxpayers’ bills may rise a bit more than 3.3 percent. As Treasurer Amber Williams explained to the Board of Commissioners at the hearing, the tax base dropped in 2010 by 9 percent. Total assessed value of taxable properties decreased from $3,223,836,090 to $2,944,556,999. That drop will drive tax rates up for all Island taxing districts. The estimated tax rate for the Fire District is up 13 percent.

Ms. Williams gave examples. A home assessed at $500,000 will have a $129.26 tax bill, compared to $114.30 for the same value of home in 2010, up $14.96. Likewise, the bill for a $1,000,000 home would be $258.51, $29.91 more than in 2010. But those 13 percent increases are mitigated by the fact that most home values have decreased by 9 percent (i.e., a home worth $500,000 in 2009 is worth less than that in 2010), making for closer to a 4 percent overall increase, Ms. Williams said.

Ms. Williams also broke down the budget into discretionary line items and the non-discretionary expenditures that the district must pay.

Most of the budget, 62 percent, is non-discretionary, and includes insurance costs; the voter-approved Longevity of Service Awards Program; salaries for the district secretary, treasurer and custodian; annual repairs, maintenance and fuel for trucks and buildings; debt service on the new truck (approved by voters in 2009 and delivered this week); training and uniform costs; physical exams for volunteers; and audit as well as payroll costs.

Discretionary costs amount to 38 percent of the budget. Except for $13,000 budgeted for the annual inspection dinner, the discretionary funds comprise the equipment upgrades or purchases from the equipment capital reserve fund.

Increases relative to last year are attributed to the purchase of new tires for active trucks, a new requirement according to Commissioner Rich Surozenski; a capital equipment increase in hose, boots and fitting expenses; and mandated physicals for everyone in the department.

No members of the general public attended the budget hearing.

The board also voted on October 19 to award a contract for stoop and apron repairs at the Heights firehouse to Marcello Masonry for $19,300.