The Village of Roslyn Harbor recently passed its own 2003-04 budget. The board of trustees approved total budget appropriations of $564,874. The budget, too, contained a slight tax increase. The new tax rate will be 5.38 percent of a property's assessed value, up from 4.94 percent for the 2002-03 budget.

Mayor Gerson Strassberg said the new tax was a result of the ever-increasing insurance costs that the village must sustain, plus unexpected roadwork caused by recent spring snows.

But the mayor also noted that the village had just completed a long run of eight straight budgets without a tax increase.

"We are very proud that for eight years running we didn't increase taxes," the mayor said. "All good things come to an end, even for a short time." Mayor Strassberg isn't sure if going eight years without a tax increase is a record for all Nassau County villages, but it might be.

On the spending side, the fire protection budget tops the list, as it does with other villages. The village will spend $140,000 for fire protection.

Other major items for spending include the clerk and treasurer budget ($74,320), traffic control ($69,444), employee benefits ($57,300), law ($50,000), building inspection ($37,425), snow removal ($35,000), and insurance ($26,000). The latter two items were, as noted, the reason for the revenue increase.

As is always the case, the bulk of the revenues comes from property taxes. From the projected revenues, $388,204 will come from such taxes. In addition the village will collect $90,800 from state aid, $20,000 each from fines and licenses and permits, $16,000 from a utilities gross receipts tax, and $15,000 from parking lot fees.