Wallkill Valley Times Mar. 27 2019

Vol. 37, No. 13 3 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 3 ONE DOLLAR Wallkill presents Shrek Panthers win opener Page 36 Page 21 w w w .W V T I M ESON L I N E . c om Maybrook to see 9% tax increase Community-police partnership Hope Not Handcuffs opens new chapters By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] Maybrook residents may see a 9 percent tax increase this year as the village tries to restore its zero fund balance. 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 same resident with a $150,000 home will see a $190 per year increase, or $16 more per month. 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. The same resident with a $150,000 home will see an increase of $123 per year, or $11 a month. 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. Now, village board members said the village has to restore its fund balance with the tax hike. “We have to get our fund balance back,” trustee James Barnett said. “We have no choice.” 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. Maybrook Mayor Dennis Leahy said Continued on page 3 Hope Not Handcuffs, a community-police partnership which provides a single point of access to substance abuse treatment, recently opened in the Crawford Police Department. By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] Hope Not Handcuffs (HNH), a community-police partnership that offers a single point of access to substance abuse treatment, has opened chapters in Walden, the Town of Montgomery and Crawford. Individuals suffering from substance abuse can walk into or call any participating police station and ask for help through the HNH program. The individual will go through a brief intake process to determine if they are eligible. Then, they will be placed into treatment as soon as possible through a HNH angel. Angels are ordinary people who undergo HNH training and volunteer to place individuals into treatment. They offer compassion, kindness, and respect, as well as comfort items such as snacks, blankets, notes, clothes, toiletries and candy. The program is coordinated through the Tri-County Community Partnership (TCCP), a community coalition centered in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties that raises awareness of the dangers of drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse. Continued on page 5 SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL