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Purpose of Budget Review

The purpose of our budget review was to provide an independent evaluation of the Village's tentative budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Background

The Village of Suffern, located in Rockland County, is authorized to issue debt not to exceed $5 million to liquidate the accumulated deficits in the Village’s general, water, sewer and capital projects funds as of May 31, 2015. New York State Local Finance Law Section 10.10 requires local governments that have been authorized to issue obligations to fund operating deficits to submit their tentative budgets for the next fiscal year to the State Comptroller for review while the deficit obligations are outstanding.

Key Findings

• Significant revenue and expenditure estimates in the tentative budget are reasonable. However, we estimate the total 2021-22 collections for sewer rent revenue will be approximately $2.25 million, which is $572,000 less than budgeted.
• The Village’s tentative budget includes a tax levy of $12,238,192, which is $40,928 above the limit established by law.

Key Recommendations

• Village officials should carefully monitor the sewer rent revenue and make adjustments to the budget as needed throughout the coming year.
• In adopting the 2021-22 budget, the Village Board should be mindful of the legal requirement to maintain the tax levy increase to no more than the tax levy limit as permitted by law, unless it properly overrides the tax levy limit prior to adopting the budget.