RyeCity REVIEW THE
December 1, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 48 | www.ryecityreview.com
City releases tentative budget; proposes 6.23% tax increase By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer
TITANS COME UP BIG Rye Town/Harrison forward Joe Bucci
fires a puck towards the net against Monroe-Woodbury on Nov. 24. The Titans won all three of their games at the Guy Matthews Thanksgiving Invitational Hockey Tournament last weekend. For story, see page 15. Photo/Mike Smith
Third-graders travel to Amazon rainforest with Google’s Expedition Third-grade students at F.E. Bellows Elementary School traveled to the Amazon rainforest and explored a variety of destinations without leaving their classrooms as part of Google’s Expeditions program, which allows students to experience a virtual 3-D environment. Using Google’s viewers and
smartphones, the students-who had been studying the Amazon rainforest and animal adaptations in their classes-visited the Borneo rainforest, as well as a school, playground and factory where local farmers bring their crops. William McKeon, the library media specialist at the school, used the Expeditions program
application and tablet to guide them along their virtual trip. “Being able to virtually step onto the forest floor and look up through the understory and onward toward the canopy gives the students a true understanding not only of the different parts of the rainforest, but they also get a feel for the vastness and importance
of the forest,” McKeon said. “A close-up look at animals of the rainforest is an exciting way to view animal adaptations in a ‘natural’ setting and bring into view what was only an abstract idea for most.” The students also learned EXPEDITION continued on page 8
Due to increases in citywide salaries, growing health insurance costs, and the addition of three professional firefighters to the ranks of the city roster, property owners in Rye are projected to see an increase of more than 6 percent in their taxes next year. And as a result, City Manager Marcus Serrano is asking the Rye City Council to override the 2 percent tax cap for a second year in a row in order to adopt his $39 million budget, which proposes a 6.23 percent tax rate increase. Since the city exceeded the tax cap for the current year’s budget, the city manager said there are no allowable carryovers to deduct from his tentative budget, which was presented on Nov. 8, to keep the city under the state-mandated cap of 1.84 percent. The projected tax levy rate, which is calculated by computing the difference between the prior year’s tax levy against the new levy, reflects a difference of approximately $744,000. The state’s tax cap legislation was meant to set a ceiling at which municipalities can raise property taxes. If the tentative budget is approved, the average household will see a $240 increase in taxes next year for a house that’s worth $1.6 million. According to the city manager,
increasing health insurance costs for city employees are to blame for the tax cap override. “It’s truly difficult to stay under the tax cap based on health insurance increases,” Serrano said, adding that it’s becoming progressively burdensome to craft a budget when such costs are mandated by the state. If the city manager’s budget is approved, current and retired employee health insurance will cost the city approximately an additional $620,000, as a result of several retirements and an increase in city staffing. Among the additions to city roster, the City Council approved hiring three more career firefighters in September, as part of a plan to restructure the Rye Fire Department. “Hiring the additional firefighters comes with a heavy lift, and I expressed that we couldn’t stay under the tax cap with that,” said Serrano, who explained the increases in Fire Department salaries alone would have sent the city expenditures over the allowable increase without an override, in addition to the health insurance increases associated with the new positions. In total, if the tentative budget is approved by the City Council, spending on city salaries will increase by approximately $700,000. BUDGET continued on page 9