TAX UPDATE: Spring Valley Trustees Vote Down Mayor's Proposed 12.25% Budget

by M.C. Millman

Trustees of the Village of Spring Valley voted down Mayor Alan Simon's proposed 12.25 percent increase in the 2023/2024 budget at tonight's meeting and public hearing, voting to adopt a greatly reduced 1.93 percent increase instead. 

The adjusted budget required three trustee votes to pass the changes. Without those three votes, the mayor's budget would have been the default. The new, lower budget received a vote of all four trustees present out of the five Village trustees. 

"I am truly gratified that I was able to defeat the mayor's proposed budget of a 12.25 percent tax increase," Sruly Eisenbach, Village of Spring Valley Trustee, shares exclusively with Rockland Daily. "Once the budget was distributed to us, the Village Trustees, I spent hours upon hours and reviewed line by line to find a way to minimize the impacts of a tax increase on the Village taxpayers. 

"I am happy to report that my fellow colleagues and I succeeded beyond expectations, and we agreed on a path forward without adversely impacting services for our delighted residents. My task in the Village government has always been to be a voice for all, to protect the taxpayers from these exorbitant increases, and to improve efficiency in every way possible. For this reason, residents have had zero percent tax increases over the past four consecutive years. I look forward to continuing being your public servant for many years to come."

The final budget must be passed by May 1.