After a brief public hearing on April 15, the Village of Liverpool Board of Trustees approved a 2013-14 budget of $2,306,565.32. The tax rate for village property-owners will stand at $12.25 per $1,000 of valuation, the same as it was for the 2012-13 cycle.
In 2012-13, a home assessed at $100,000 received a village tax bill of $1,225. All properties in the village are also assessed a $150-per unit sewer rent charge.
The proposed budget calls for $60,000 in sidewalk improvements but no major capital projects are planned for the coming year, Sims said. The annual budget pays for village departments of public works, police, village court, clerks, codes enforcement and the operation of the Village Hall as well as $155,853 in debt payments for the general fund.
The 2013-14 budget is $24,000 more than this year’s budget which came in at $2,282,663.
Because Onondaga County restructured its sales-tax revenue-sharing system in 2010 by cutting funds previously shared with villages and towns, village taxes rose the following year for the first time in more than a decade, although the total 2011-12 budget was just $2,223,428. Village taxes went up by approximately 22 percent that year, but that hike was offset somewhat by a lowering of the county tax rate.
Fair market value?
In other business, the trustees approved a resolution to obtain fair market appraisals for village-owned properties on Lake Drive and South Willow Street, at a cost not to exceed $2,000. The fair market value would be a price at which a parcel would trade in a competitive auction setting.
At the trustees’ March 18 meeting, Liverpool restaurateur John Gormel had expressed concern about the village’s plan to divide that jagged strip of property into three separate parcels. At that time Trustee Nick Kochan said the village would seek requests for proposals regarding the properties.
Gormel owns the adjacent Barking Gull restaurant at 116 S. Willow St. and the Dips & Dogs ice-cream stand around the corner on Lake Drive. He plans to open The Barking Gull to the public later this spring. For the better part of the past decade, the facility had functioned strictly as a venue for private parties.
The Gormel family also owns two other village taverns, The Retreat and The Cobblestone.
Police stats for March
Liverpool Police Chief Don Morris informed the village board of trustees at their April 15 meeting that officers issued 153 citations for violations of the state’s vehicle and traffic laws during March. In addition, five warning tickets were issued for minor motor-vehicle violations.
Fiver arrests were made for driving while intoxicated, eight traffic accidents were investigated and 65 parking tickets were issued.
Officers made 169 residential checks during the month while investigating a total of 318 complaints and calls for service.
During March, LPD officers arrested 36 individuals on a total of 48 criminal charges.
