Wallkill Valley Times Apr. 17 2019

Vol. 37, No. 16 3 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2019 3 ONE DOLLAR VC girls top Highland Easter parade Page 19 Page 40 w w w .W V T I M ESON L I N E . c om A ‘ little too high’ Maybrook’s proposed 9% tax hike sparks concerns By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] Several residents voiced concern about the nine percent tax increase in Maybrook’s 2019-20 budget at a public hearing on April 8. “I think nine percent is just a little too high,” Maybrook resident Lou Curti said. “And I understand our slush fund, the cushion, we need to have something in place.” Currently, the village’s fund balance is at zero, so the tax hike will help replenish the fund balance. The zero- fund balance has caused the Office of the State Comptroller to list the village as moderately stressed for fiscal year ending in 2018. The fund balance is a municipality’s difference between assets and liabilities. The New York State Government Finance Officers’ Association recommends municipalities keep a fund balance of at least two months of annual total expenditures as insurance against unanticipated expenses or revenue shortfalls. The new 2019-20 tax rate for a Town of Montgomery resident will be $15.43 per $1,000 assessed, up from $14.17 last year. The new 2019-20 tax rate for a Town of Hamptonburg resident, which has a small contingency in Maybrook, will be $10.03 per $1,000 assessed. Continued on page 4 Navy brass Trump taps Walden native as Chief Naval Officer A Walden native has been nominated by President Trump to serve as Chief Naval Officer. Admiral William F Moran, 60, will have a fleet of 355 warships at his disposal if confirmed by the senate. Confirmation is expected for the current Vice Chief of Naval Operations. Moran, who graduated from Valley Central High School in 1977, is the son of Dr. William and Carol Moran. His father served as Valley Central Superintendent of Schools for nearly 20 years. Following his Valley Central graduation, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy, earning his commission in 1981 and aviator wings the following year. As a pilot, his job was to hunt Soviet submarines. That crucial mission took him to Brunswick, Maine and then a long association with Florida — Jacksonville and nearby Naval Station Mayport, home to the famed aircraft carrier Forrestal. From mid-1989 to late 1990, he served on board it as a Carrier Strike Group Six staffer, rising from his role as the admiral’s flag lieutenant to qualify as a Battle Group Tactical Watch Officer. He got his initial immersion in personnel issues as a detailer at the Bureau of Naval Personnel between 1995 and 1998 but was chosen to command Patrol Squadron 46 and departed for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. He went on to command Hawaii- based Patrol Reconnaissance Wing 2 and Patrol and Reconnaissance Group in Virginia before becoming assuming administrative positions in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, then as Navy Times Admiral William F. Moran, Valley Central Class of 1977, has been nominated to serve as Chief of Naval Operations. Chief of Naval Personnel and VCNO. If confirmed, Moran will be the first of the nine aviators who became CNO who never rose through the ranks of carrier- based commands. Moran, in a prepared statement, told Navy Times that he was “honored and deeply humbled by the nomination and looked forward to working with Continued on page 4 SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL