Mayor Spinello Reports Finances on Target with Potential Upside at Year’s End

August 12, 2015…Glen Cove Mayor Reggie Spinello reported today that a mid-year budget evaluation showed strong year-to-date improvements and that his initiatives to find cost savings, manage expenses and find new revenue streams for the City are on track to deliver a balanced budget. And, if current trends continue, the city could generate an operating surplus at the close of the 2015 fiscal year.

Mayor Spinello attributes this important news to a number of sound financial decisions and business imperatives that have benefited the City of Glen Cove. Here are some topline highlights from the 2015 mid-term budget review:

• The Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan offered to employees will save over $400,000 in annual payroll costs and benefits, this year alone.
  
  
• The aggressive settlement of lawsuits on behalf of the City has resulted in $1mm in budget revenues for 2015 of which 75% has already been collected. Additionally, illegal housing and code violations have yielded $105,525 in fines through July, 2015. This is $20,000 more than was previously budgeted for the entire 2015 year.
  
  
• A mutual agreement was reached with Safavieh whereby they would not renew their PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes). The PILOT, which began in 2005, provided cost savings to assist them in the first several years of operations. Beginning in January, 2015 the company is paying full taxes to the City of Glen Cove and the Glen Cove School District.
  
  
• Improved controls and procedures have saved the City $120,000 in police overtime.

“Glen Cove’s total 2015 budget is approximately $50 million dollars and to effectively manage a budget of that magnitude, one needs to leverage their business acumen and management experience to have a deep understanding of where we can save money, where there are long-standing challenges that need to be fixed, where we can find an upside through creating new revenue streams and where we can make things easier for our residents,” said Mayor Spinello.

“In fact, our comptroller has been meeting with banks and credit card processors since March to create more convenient ways for City residents to pay for various program registrations and fees.” By October Glen Cove residents will be able to pay their water bills online with a credit card.

Glen Cove’s 2015 budget was the first budget created by Mayor Spinello and his leadership team.