After approving a State Environmental Quality Review of the upcoming drainage projects at their April 14 meeting, the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees unanimously awarded a $587,747 bid to Joseph J. Lane Construction Inc., for work to be done on Balsam and Third streets and Hiawatha Trail.
Trustee Jim Rosier, the board’s liaison to the Department of Public Works, urged Mayor Gary White to make sure that Lane Construction coordinates its effort with DPW Superintendent Bill Asmus.
The trustees also approved a 2014-15 budget of $2,437,648. That figure is $120,000 higher than this year’s budget of $2,306,565, but Liverpool Village Clerk Mary Ellen Sims said the tax rate will remain flat at $12.25 per $1,000 of valuation.
“That’s the same rate we’ve had for the past two years,” she said.
Since taxes rose in 2011-12 after Onondaga County rescinded its sales tax revenue sharing program, village taxes have remained stable. Last year and the year before, 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 village will tap its fund balance this year for the purchase of a new $30,000 police car, Sims said. The DPW will replace its backhoe by leasing a new one at an annual cost of $11,000.
The 2014-15 proposal calls for a general fund budget of $2,229,997.62 and a sewer fund budget of $207,650, making the total budget $2,437,647.62.
The annual budget pays for village departments of public works, police, village court, clerks, codes enforcement and the operation of the village hall.
Two DWIs in March
Liverpool Police Chief Don Morris informed village trustees at their April 14 meeting that officers made 144 traffic stops and issued 124 citations for violations of the state’s vehicle and traffic laws during March. In addition, eight traffic accidents were investigated and two arrests were made for driving while intoxicated and 58 parking tickets were issued.
Officers made 250 residential checks during the month while answering a total of 433 complaints and calls for service.
During March, LPD officers arrested 26 individuals on a total of 37 criminal charges.
