PORT JERVIS – With little comment from city residents, the Port Jervis Common Council has approved the 2020 budget that exceeds the tax cap.
The initial proposed budget had a tax rate increase of 2.38 percent, but council members whittled that down to 2.04 percent.
Mayor Kelly Decker said a couple of areas fueled the increase in the budget. “We had to make our fire inspector from a part-time to a full-time. That doesn’t just include raising the salary by doubling it, but it also includes fringe benefits,” he said. “We also had to include our new IT. We never had IT before. We would contract bits and pieces out to get things to go along. We now have an IT firm.”
The budget includes no money from the fund balance, which the mayor said is healthy. The city has also settled new contracts with the PBA, CSEA and department heads.
