Concerns have been expressed by taxpayers in our community about this year’s proposed tax increases. The purpose of this letter is to explain our budget process and address these concerns so our taxpayers have a better understanding of the reasons for these proposed increases.

The Town of Mamaroneck began its budget process in July of this year, including meeting with every department within the Town to assess our needs for the coming year.  Since that time, the Town produced both the Tentative and Preliminary Budgets. After significant initial reductions, the proposed Preliminary Budget was the subject of a public hearing on December 4, 2024.  After hearing from the public, the Town Board met on December 10th, and the budget was reduced further by nearly $494,000. Refurbishment of the Hommocks grass fields was also postponed in favor of an enhanced maintenance program to maintain the fields on an interim basis while we continue to study the issue. The final budget will be voted on at the Town Board meeting on Wednesday, December 18^th.

Budgeting this year has been challenging. Our Town government is responsible for the provision of services to all residents across a wide range of ages, service needs and economic realities.  The Town prepares a five-year capital plan that identifies the expected infrastructure, building and equipment needs, to protect the community from huge, unanticipated swings in these areas in any given year. To limit our 2025 spending to essential projects, we have primarily focused on community & staff safety, while meeting our legal and contractual obligations.

Many taxpayer concerns about safety have been addressed in this budget, such as safety improvements on Colonial Avenue and Weaver Street near the Leatherstocking Trail. Flooding remains a major concern in our community, and our capital plan contains improvements to address these concerns, as well as designs this year to incorporate recommendations of the Stormwater Survey we commissioned in 2024 through grants. Recognizing the financial burdens incurred by our taxpayers, we constantly seek outside funding sources such as grants. In 2024, the Town was awarded approximately $10.5 million in grant funding and is waiting to hear about $5.4 million more.  Many of these grants require matching funds and/or follow-up, such as the Stormwater Study. We have also had to repair aging infrastructure, such as the decades-old valve system at the Reservoir that required one major repair in 2024 but may not withstand another major storm, so we are replacing it in 2025. We need to prepare our community for the increasing number of climate-related catastrophes we face each year. Supply-chain issues also continue to affect the replacement of our aging equipment.

However, the primary driver of budget increases is the mandatory expenses we face each year of approximately $52 million – about 93% of the budget -- for such things as contractual obligations, debt service, Town staff payroll and benefit costs. This leaves very little discretionary spending that can be reduced. These mandatory expenses have been rising at a faster pace than revenues, leading to difficult decisions balancing our needs for essential services and keeping the budget as low as possible. The 2025 budget also appropriates $2.5 million of fund balance (“reserves”) into our operating budget in order to help fund these expenses -- the maximum the Town can utilize without negatively impacting our cash flow and our ability to pay our bills in the first quarter of 2025 before tax revenue is received. An incorrect statement has also been made that we are raising taxes to keep our future fund balances high in order to maintain our current Aaa bond rating. Though it is not a specific objective of the proposed 2025 budget, maintaining the Town's Aaa rating is a benefit of our strong financial discipline over the past years, and will continue to result in significant savings in interest rates on bonds and in other matters.

As a result of numerous discussions and careful consideration, pending final decisions by the Town Board, the Final Proposed 2025 Budget will be $55,750,512.  As noted, this reflects additional reductions made after the Public Hearing on December 4^th. The average home value, which is the value we use to show the tax impact of each budget, is $1,651,000.  Based on this average home value, Town taxes for residents in the unincorporated area will rise by $704 for the year and Town taxes for residents in the villages will rise by $147 for the year.   As illustrated in the pie charts below, the Town’s taxes represent only 26% of the total real estate tax bill for residents of the unincorporated area and 3% of the total real estate tax bill for residents of the villages.  Homes with higher values will incur greater tax obligations and, conversely, homes with lower values than the average will incur lower tax obligations. 

It is also important to recognize the budget prepared for this year cannot be considered in a vacuum. The 2025 Town Budget represents a multi-year approach to meeting the statutory, safety and quality of life needs of our community, while protecting financial stability. We serve a diverse community, and provide not only services to the unincorporated area, but also to residents in both villages, such as assessment, tax collection, recreation (including our fields, parks, ice rink, pool, camps, programs and more), senior services, ambulance services and the majority of the costs for the Larchmont Library.

In recent years, particular focus has been paid to needs such as flood mitigation, public safety equipment and repairs, pedestrian safety improvements and a variety of critical equipment replacements.  We believe these things to be critical to maintain our quality of life in this wonderful community and will always seek efficiencies wherever we can. While no budget process is perfect, this year’s proposed budget is the result of an intensive and serious deliberative process that incorporates input from the community, as well as Town administrators and the Board. We believe it fairly addresses the needs and priorities of our cherished community for the years to come.

The Mamaroneck Town Board