By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

As the deadline for filing the tentative Village budget approaches, the Garden City Board of Trustees continues to scrutinize meeting agendas and brainstorm ways to increase revenue without dramatically reducing services.

State law requires villages in New York State to file a tentative budget by March 20th. Residents can review the budget after filing at Village Hall or the Garden City Public Library, and can comment and suggest changes at a public hearing scheduled for April 6th at 8 p.m. in the Village Hall boardroom. Official budget adoption will follow the public hearing at the regular Board meeting on April 6. Once the budget is adopted, the tax rate is set.

Changes can be made to the budget after the public hearing, prior to adoption. However, this has never occurred in Garden City, according to Village Auditor James Olivo. Changes to the budget happen regularly by resolution, but only under the total budget framework.

At the March 5th Board meeting, Trustee Thomas Lamberti strongly recommended that Mayor Peter A. Bee speak to the unions to either defer or forego wage increases. Mayor Bee said he would consider Lamberti's suggestion but would not make a decision that evening.

"I'm astonished that the Mayor cannot decide whether to ask our public employee unions for concessions to help us in this unprecedented budget crisis," Lamberti told the Garden City News days after the meeting. "I asked him to do so at the Board meeting on March 5th. He could not respond. Our County Executive has asked for concessions from these unions. Why not Garden City?"

When asked by The Garden City News for a response to Lamberti's comments, Mayor Bee replied: "I have already responded to Trustee Lamberti's suggestion that I contact the unions to propose deferrals of wage increases. While I have serious reservations about the wisdom of wage deferrals (which are really "loans" costing the Village more money in the long run, despite the favorable press coverage such deferrals are getting at the county level), I have indicated that I will consider any and every suggestion that helps our current Village budget. I note, however, that Trustee Lamberti is well aware that we have only four groups of employees: senior staff (whose salary is recommended by a BOT Compensation Subcommittee on which I do not sit), Police (who have no scheduled raises coming up since their contract expires this May 31), Firefighters (who have no scheduled raises coming up since their contract expired last May 31), and CSEA (who are our village's lowest paid employees, but are due an approximate 3.5 percent wage increase this June)."

Agendas for Garden City Board of Trustees meetings have come under noticeably increased scrutiny by trustees and residents as the economy continues to suffer. At the March 5th BOT meeting, for example, an agreement between the Village and Adelphi University for the use of the Olmstead Theatre was questioned by Trustee Donald Brudie. Adelphi is charging the Village $2,622.50 for use of the theatre for the Garden City Recreation Spring Dance Student Showcase on June 4 and 5. Brudie argued that the university should not charge a fee because the Village has been allowing them for several years to use the parking lot at the Garden City Pool to keep their small buses and vans for free while portions of the university are under construction.

Kevin E. Ocker, chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Cultural and Recreational Affairs, is currently in discussions with Adelphi to have the fee lowered or waived. He explained that Adelphi lets the Village use their pool for free, the value of which has been estimated to be $12,000.

The recreation department offers residents swimming lessons, a water safety instruction course and an adult open swim program at the Adelphi pool. The adult open swim is open three nights a week from October through April. Swimming lessons are offered December through May. The Recreation Dept. charges a $50 fee to cover staff costs for the lessons. Water safety instruction is given during the winter.

Trustees briefly debated whether or not to approve the expenditure, but ultimately decided to move forward in a vote of 6 to 1 (Mauk absent). Trustee John Watras voted against the agreement because he believes the showcase can be held in the high school auditorium for free. The other trustees said the children work hard all year and deserve to perform in a theater setting as opposed to an auditorium.

Another agenda area which has seen cuts given the current financial crisis is approval of Village staff attendance at conferences. At the March 5th Board meeting, three conferences were on the agenda for approval: $1,800 for three people to attend an American Water Works N.Y. Section meeting in Saratoga, NY; $2,000 for attendance at the International Code Council in New Orleans, LA; and $1,700 for two people to attend the Eastern States Building Officials Federation School and Conference in Durham, NH. The Durham conference was removed at the start of the meeting.

Mayor Bee has encouraged residents to attend budget work sessions and offer suggestions via letter or e-mail. Resident Dennis Armstrong asked the Board to look into the feasibility of having Village employees pay a greater portion of their health care costs, especially under family plans.

The budget was expected to be the sole focus of a BOT work session which was scheduled to be held last night. An article will appear in next week's edition of The Garden City News.