Head of the Harbor budget includes 9.16% tax hike, added code enforcement officer

Head of the Harbor’s $2.3 million village budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year will include money for a new code enforcement officer to assist with frequent reports of code violations while also including a tax hike for residents due to factors including the effects of Tropical Storm Ernesto last August.

The village’s board of trustees voted 3-1 at their Jan. 15 regular meeting to adopt the budget. Village Trustee Dan White voted against the budget’s adoption.

Under the new budget, real property taxes will increase from $1,283,175 in the current year to $1,400,683 for the new budget cycle which starts March 1. This will mean a 9.16% increase in real property taxes, or $117,508. According to the budget, the tax rate for the average village homeowner will increase to $24.03 per $100 of assessed property value, a $1.98 or 9.0% hike from the $22.05 they paid the previous year.

Village Mayor Michael Utevsky said in an interview that several factors played a role in taxes going up, but the biggest contributing factor was the “huge cost of repairs” from the flooding damage caused during the Aug. 18 and 19 storm, which damaged roads in several parts of the village, especially Mill Creek Road, where several homeowners had to evacuate following severe erosion to the road. The village has since built an access road to assist Mill Creek Road homeowners in going back and forth from their homes and installed more storm drains around Head of the Harbor, Utevsky said.

“All of these unexpected repair costs exceeded our budget by $350,000,” Utevsky said.

The village also added $15,000 for code enforcement under the safety inspections budget to hire an additional part-time code enforcement officer.

Several trustees said at the Jan. 15 meeting that the village had seen frequent complaints of alleged code violations. Utevsky said most of the violations have to do with the removal of trees, which the village adopted rules for last year. With the village’s building inspector only working two days a week, Utevsky said extra manpower is necessary to stay on top of the violations.

Village Trustee Judy Ogden said at the Jan. 15 meeting that hiring another code enforcement official “is a step needed so people can follow the code within the village.”