Less than ten residents “attended” the public hearing on the 2020-21 village budget in Maybrook and all seemed satisfied with the revised document which carries a four percent increase in the tax rate.
Because of social distancing, the village board held the hearing in a teleconference with board members, other village officials and members of the public all on the phone together.

The board did not adopt a budget after its hearing on Monday night, but will at its next meeting April 27. Mayor Dennis Leahy said the board will take another look at the revisions it announced Monday and see if more cuts can be made by the April 27 meeting.

As it stands now, the proposed budget totals $3,879,550.41, a decrease of $26,877.59 from the original tentative budget. It carries a tax rate of $15.99 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for property owners in the Town of Montgomery portion of the village (which is wide majority). Village property owners in the Town of Hamptonburgh would pay $9.76.

So the owner of a Maybrook home located in the Town of Montgomery, assessed at $150,000, would pay $2,398.50 for the year, an increase of $91 a year over the current rate. In Hamptonburgh, that same home would pay $1,464 for the year, a decrease of $40.50.

The original tentative budget carried a $7,600 increase for the Mayor and much smaller increases for village board members. Those pay raises were eliminated in the tentative budget, with cuts made in the police budget ($7,000 decrease from tentative budget) and Public Works budget ($11,595 decrease).

Board members had first proposed the hefty increase in the Mayor’s salary in the original tentative budget but agreed to cut it out of the revised budget.

“It is my belief,” said Deputy Mayor Robert Pritchard, “that the original raise for the Mayor was well warranted and during these economic times, we need someone at the helm to manage this. I’d still like to see the $7,000 raise for the Mayor.”

Trustee James Barnett agreed with Pritchard, but Trustees Daryl Capozzoli and Kevin Greany said that, while the times are “terrible” and the Mayor does an excellent job, this isn’t the time.“It’s not the right time,” Greany said. “When things get better is the time to do it.”

Pay raises of an average of two percent for village employees did survive the cuts.

Also surviving any cuts were two new police patrol cars and a new pick-up truck for Public Works; all three vehicles will be leased for five years with options to buy (for $1 each) at the end of the lease period.

Because the four percent tax rate increase exceeds the State-required tax cap of two percent, the village board unanimously approved overriding the cap at Monday’s meeting. The State does permit overrides with a 60 percent vote of the board to do so.

The hearing was recorded and Mayor Leahy said a transcript will be on the village website (.villageofmaybrook.com) as soon as possible.

In other business, the board unanimously approved a one-year extension of its contract with the Police Benevolent Assoc., represented by the Teamsters 445. The current contract expires June 1. The extension maintains most provisions and gives the police a two percent raise.

In other business, the board unanimously adopted a law regulating moving/storage portable on demand containers (PODs). The only change made to the law since a March public hearing was to add a provision of a $25 application fee for a POD. All other provisions previously announced remain.

The law allows the siting of PODs on residential and non-residential property on a “limited basis” not to exceed 30 days a year. There is a 30-day limit on the length of time a POD can consecutively be placed on a property. If the POD is there because of major damage to a residence, that limit goes to 180 days. No more than one unit is permitted.

The PODs must be sited on paved off-street areas. There are size limitations and restrictions on what you can put in a POD. You cannot wire it or heat it or keep animals in one.

However, a POD that has been converted for use as an accessory building or shed is permitted, if it complies with all village building codes and land use requirements.