Garden City Budget News By Roy S. Ryniker and Bob Sundius

In April 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer established the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness to examine opportunities to improve the effectiveness of local municipalities throughout the state. The Commission's final report is due to be issued in April 2008, however, they have issued some preliminary reports, based on their initial fact finding and analysis of 2005 financial data for all municipalities throughout the state. Additional information can be located at www.nyslocalgov.org. We selected a few of the Commission's financial benchmarks to highlight against those for Garden City.

A. Revenue Components

Percent of Total Revenue Sources

NYS VillagesGarden City

Source of Revenue

- Real Property Taxes 46% 88%

- State Aid 7% 6%

- Federal Aid 3% 0%

- Non Property Taxes 7% 2%

- Other Revenues 37% 4%

Total 100% 100%

Total revenues exclude funds drawn from existing cash surplus. Garden City is one of the state's 554 villages. Compared with other villages, Garden City is significantly more dependent on real property taxes to fund it operations, receives less federal and state aid, and has minor reliance on other revenue sources than most other villages in the state.

B. Village Expenses Per Capita

(residents: adults and children)

Villages Expenses Per Capita

- Nassau County$1,342

- Suffolk County$1,318

- Average - Other NYS Counties$1,190

- Garden City $2,336

Garden City's per capita expenses are 74% to 96% higher than the benchmarks for other counties. Part of that variance is due to Garden City's village budget including certain services ( for example, fire department and garbage removal expenses) while certain other villages account for these expenses through special districts.

C. Village Property Taxes Per Capita

Village Property Tax Per Capita

- Nassau County$752

- Suffolk County$674

- Average - Other NYS Counties$419

- Garden City $1,876

Garden City's property tax per capita is 250% of the level for other Nassau County villages. This is due to combination of Garden City's: (1.) greater reliance on property taxes than other revenue sources compared with many other villages; (2.) having a compre-hensive budget that includes services that certain other villages fund through special district budgets; and (3.) Garden City's absolute level of expenses, a budget for the current fiscal year that is $53.7 million.

The above analysis is for village revenues and expenses which does not include any of the school district expenses. There are significant variances between Garden City's financial benchmarks and those of other Nassau County villages as well as most other villages throughout the state. This leads us to want to more fully understand the expense of delivering the services provided to Garden City residents.

The Citizens' Budget Review Committee was formed by the Property Owners Associations to provide the residents and the Board of Trustees with the analysis and information to support their efforts to make more informed decisions throughout the annual Village budget development and review process.

Roy S. Ryniker is President of the Re-organization Alternatives Group, Ltd. and Chairman of the Garden City Citizens' Budget Review Committee (Roy.Ryniker@ReAltGroup.com). Bob Sundius is a corporate executive and financial advisor for middle market companies (rwsundius@interim-exec-mgmt.com). Contact them with comments/suggestions regarding the Village's operations and budget.