The board of trustees met with members of the executive staff Feb. 24 for several hours to finalize the budget. It will be presented at the board of trustees meeting March 17 as part of the board of trustees meeting. Trustee Negri, commissioner of finance, led the discussion by proposing that we set a goal for finalizing the budget of keeping the tax increase at or below the Consumer Price Index (CPI). There was agreement among the board of trustees to strive for this goal.

As you know the village is a service-orientated entity and as such the major portion of each year's tax increase is due to contractual agreements which we have little control over. After the board of trustees concluded with staff that the operating budget was as tight as it could be the capital budget was reanalyzed.

Fruitful discussions occurred during this process. We arrived at consensus on those projects that really need to be completed or started in the next budget cycle as well as those projects that required allocations for the future, e.g., purchase of a firetruck. We met our stated goal of keeping taxes below 6 percent while meeting our fiduciary responsibility for capital projects while keeping to our traditional "pay as we go" fiscal policy for them.

I want to thank the members of the board as well as Village Administrator Robert Schoelle and Village Auditor James Olivo and the rest of the executive staff for the enormous amount of hours spent on this critical budget process that continues to make Garden City a special place.

Don't miss this terrific exhibit of our talented young residents. The exhibit will be in the lower level of the Garden City Library from now until the end of March. Congratulations to the aspiring artists of this exhibit as well as their art teacher, Diane Veitch.

Long Island Blood Services, in conjunction with the employees at village hall, will be holding a blood drive Tuesday, March 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the second floor meeting room of Fire Headquarters on Stewart Avenue. The need for blood has again reached a critical level so please consider donating. For more information, or to schedule an appointment to donate blood, please contact Ronni Sylvia of the Human Resources Department at village hall (465-4171 or 465-4170).

Did you know that more than 800 units of blood are needed each and every day of the year to meet the needs of patients in Long Island's 43+ hospitals?