Brockport’s Budget Part 2

Since January there’s been a lot of lively discussion at village board meetings about the budget process. While folks have made several comments and asked many questions—both publicly and privately—about the village’s next spending plan, the trustees work on the budget likely will begin sometime in late March. That’s because crafting the tentative budget is the responsibility of the village’s budget officer, which is the mayor or his designee.

In fact, perhaps as a safeguard against willy-nilly planning, the budget calendar for New York’s villages is heavily prescribed by law. For example, by Feb. 8 of each year, the budget officer is required to request in writing each department head’s budget estimates, schedules and statements. By March 1, department heads must submit revenue and expenditure estimates to the budget officer. By March 20, the budget officer is legally obligated to file the tentative budget with the village clerk.

The contents of a tentative budget are spelled out by statute, too. Among what’s required is: comparative information about the past year’s spending, appropriations for the current year, and requests for the coming year; wage and salary schedules; and revenue estimates for both the current and coming fiscal years.

The next step of the process is presentation of the tentative budget by the village clerk to the board of trustees. This must take place by March 31. After this presentation, the board of trustees may revise the budget as deemed necessary and within the confines of the law.

By April 15, the village must host a public hearing on the tentative budget as amended by board resolution. The board may further revise the tentative budget after the public hearing before adopting it by May 1. Finally, within 30 days of its adoption, the chief fiscal officer must file a certified copy of the budget with the state comptroller.

So while there’s been much discussion at board meetings and otherwise about what trustees are doing on the budget, in reality we’re responsible for reviewing the tentative budget, changing it if we find the need, and adopting it in a timely manner. Of course, trustees have been talking for the last couple of months about the budget with one another, with department heads, and with concerned citizens. But until the board is presented formally with a tentative budget, we’re not in a position to thoroughly examine it. And examine it, we shall.