Dear Neighbors:

I believe it’s important for the public to understand how their tax dollars are used.  Similarly, I think our Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton should have a firm grasp on the departments we are charged with overseeing.

Since the start of the new year, the Board has been meeting with the heads of our Village departments to review their operations at our work sessions.  So far, the Board has met with the heads of Engineering, Recreation, Croton EMS, the Volunteer Fire Department and the Police Department.

Copies of their presentations are available on the Village website and video of these presentations are part of our regular meeting archive. Also at my recommendation, the Village Departments now issue quarterly reports that are posted to each Department’s page at www.crotononhudson-ny.gov.

Over the last two budgets, the Board of Trustees and I have kept tax levy growth to a total of less than 1%.  We have reduced village indebtedness. We have continued to run budget surpluses. We have maintained a robust Aa2 credit rating.

It’s truly impressive what our volunteers and professional staff do for our Village with the resources they have.

Our Village Board of Trustees is committed to controlling property taxes to keep the Village of Croton a place middle class families can afford.  At the same time, we will continue to support our Village’s workforce to keep delivering the level of services residents expect and preserve our community’s quality of life.

Sincerely,

Brian Pugh, Mayor