As with other villages in the Roslyn area, the Village of East Hills board of trustees has approved its 2005-06 budget.

According to East Hills Mayor Michael R. Koblenz, the budget, which totals $5,881,055, will see a "limited increase," itself due to staff cutbacks and scaled-down proposals.

The mayor said that the approved budget would be adjusted by 5 percent. From that number, 1.45 percent is attributed to a rise in fire protection costs, while 1.60 percent is, according to the mayor's report, "due to uncontrollable and fixed costs for insurance, dumping fees, fuel, road salt and sand, and utilities, all of which the village is required to shoulder."

In all, the board approved an operating budget increase of $1.10 per $100 of assessed value. The mayor's report cited state and mandated costs, including those fixed by state, county and other governmental laws and regulations for an additional impact on the tax levy of $.66 per $100 of assessed value.

Such regulations, the mayor's report added, include health care and retirement benefits. Still, the village has received a Moody's credit rating of Aa3, which the mayor said is "one of the highest...ratings given to any municipality the size of East Hills."

The Fire Department segment of the budget accounts for $972,021, or 17 percent of all spending. That is exceeded only by Employee Benefits, which account for 18 percent of the total budget. Other major portions of the budget come from the usual sources: Streets, Finance and Sanitation.

Property taxes will amount to $4,534,585 of all revenues for the new budget.

Other revenue will come from Utilities Gross Receipts ($95,000), Licenses & Permits ($190,000), Fines & Forfeitures ($100,000), State Aid ($230,849), and Appropriated Surplus ($607,671).

In addition, the village issued its own special Parks Budget for 2005-2006.

That budget will total $2,061 in appropriations. Of that number, $1,208, 879 will be spent on debt service, while $852,750 will go for actual operating costs, namely the plan to implement, operate, maintain and provide security, legal and accounting services for the Park at East Hills. All of the revenue for the park budget will be raised by real property taxes.

Village officials remain excited about the prospects for the Park at East Hills.

In his budget report, Mayor Koblenz said that all new contracts for park construction were within the original $17 million bonded budget. He added that tennis, basketball, new nature and jogging trails, and a Senior Lounge might be finished this year. However, safety concerns may delay their use. Either way, construction on the park's other features---the pool, playgrounds, and sports fields---will be ongoing.

The budget report also noted that in order to offset the start-up costs and prepare for the opening of the facilities at the park, the village would charge an additional $1.84474 per $100 of assessed value. Preparing the park for an opening "as soon as possible" required a tax levy adjustment of 10.86 percent, the report added.

"Our aim is to provide the finest facilities and services for centuries to come, and while we are pressing to open the park as quickly as possible, we will not sacrifice the quality of construction that we require in order to declare the park opened sooner," Mayor Koblenz said.

In his report, the mayor cited such services as road resurfacing, an "effective security force," tree pruning, the creation of a community garden, and the establishment of a new Architectural Review Board as other services provided by the budget.

In addition, the report noted that in 2006, the village would celebrate its 75th anniversary. Plans for that anniversary are already being formulated.