The board of trustees in two villages in the Roslyn area recently approved their 2008-09 budgets.

The Village of East Hills passed a budget that included, according to Mayor Michael R. Koblenz, "a nearly all time record low adjustment of $50.29 per annum for the lowest range residences to $107.29 per annum for the highest range of homes in East Hills." The village's tax rate adjustment comes out to 2.98 percent, which the mayor said is the lowest increase in taxes in more than a decade.

Mayor Koblenz attributes much of that to the direct savings gained from both the elimination of leaf collection programs and "other stringent limitations placed on spending."

Due to the "highly conservative" budget, the village, Mayor Koblenz added, will continue to enjoy a Moody's rating of Aa2, itself one of the highest such ratings given to any village the size of East Hills.

In his report, the mayor explained why the BOT dropped the leaf collection program. "This year, the leaf collection program was eliminated to ensure the safety of pedestrians, motorists, school buses, children, mothers, fathers and even young drivers," he said. "We were delighted that the program worked for many years before the advent of SUVs and an influx of gardeners who did not comply with our regulations. In the name of safety only, the Board discontinued what once was a viable and successful program."

In other budget news, the mayor praised the village's sanitation department as "the most efficient and effective means to collect sanitation." He also claimed that making a Verizon cable service available to residents would result in competitive prices benefiting local residents.

Finally, the mayor thanked the BOT and other village officials for preparing and approving a budget that improves village services "without imposing large tax increases." He also noted the record volunteer participation in the village. "Our community is fortunate to have so many talented community leaders who assist our administration by serving on committees and boards," he said.

For the first time in a decade, the Village of Roslyn Estates board of trustees was forced to include a tax increase in their yearly budget.

The 2008-09 budget, which was approved on April 7, contains a 4.45 percent increase in the village's tax rate. In the 2007-08 budget, the village raised $802,924 through taxation. In the 2008-09 document, it raised $848,411 in revenue. The tax rate per $100 in assessed valuation rose from $10.78 in the 2007-08 budget to $11.26 in this year's document.

In all, the 2008-09 budget amounts to $1,140,661 in expenditures, a decrease from the $1,507,253 in expenditures in the 2007-08 budget.

On the spending side, the biggest portion of the budget went to Fire Service expenses ($171,042), with Fire Service Insurance at $13,000, and Fire Service Awards spending at $26,000.

In other items, Refuse Collection accounted for $140,000 in expenditures. The budget for the Village Attorney's office stood at $100,000, while the entire Streets Department budget reached $123,600. The village will spend $85,000 on the Debt Service Principal budget and $34,178 on Debt Service Interest. The village will spend $92,280 on its Clerk Treasurer portion of the budget, while it plans to set aside $30,000 for a Contingency portion of the budget, and $35,000 on Health Insurance for village employees.