Auditors for Mount Vernon found a $4.5 million surplus that was left over from the 2011 budget because the city didn’t use as much of its fund balance as it had expected, The Journal News/Lohud.com reports today. The money will be carried over into the current fiscal year, which ends Dec. 31, city officials announced .
“We are proud of the fact that, so far, has city has maintained a relatively strong financial position,” city Comptroller Maureen Walker said, “despite the current financial crisis that has forced many municipalities to the brink of bankruptcy and widespread layoffs of city workers.”
As Mount Vernon prepares its budget for 2013, the news is not all good. Its earnings from mortgage and transfer taxes were down this year and are projected to do the same in 2013, while pension and health-care costs are expected to continue increasing. Rank-and-file members of the Police Department are slated to get a 3 percent wage hikes.
“It’s going to be tight,” Walker said. “Based on our five-year plan, 2013 was going to be our worst year in a very long time.”
The currrent budget is roughly $93 million. The 2013 spending plan will be about $95 million, she said.
