Supervisor To Offer Evening Hours to Discuss Budget With Residents

SOUTHOLD, NY — Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell will be dedicating office hours to discussing the preliminary $44.1 million 2017 town budget with residents.

The board voted unanimously last week to adopt the preliminary budget, which proposes a tax rate increase of 7.57 percent; only nominal changes were made since Russell's tentative budget was presented to the town board.

Russell continues to maintain office hours on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. On November 2, his office hours will be dedicated specifically to answering any questions regarding the 2017 proposed budget.

The public is also encouraged to attend the budget hearings at either 4 p.m. or 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 9.

But Russell has carved out a special time during his office hours on November 2 to discuss any questions or concerns with residents prior to those hearings, the supervisor said.

The evening office hours on November 2 will be by appointment only to accommodate all who may wish to attend. To schedule an appointment, call 631-765-1889.

Discussing the budget with Patch, Russell said last year's tax rate overall was 296.144. The new budget proposes an in crease overall of 7.57 percent, for a new tax rate of 318.548.

The tentative 2017 budget would be the first proposed to pierce the New York State tax levy cap.

Russell, when filing the tentative budget, said it was the "culmination of several difficult decisions."

While the supervisor said he was proud to have filed budgets that have complied with the state tax cap in past year, "I am unable to do so this year," he said. "It is unreasonable to expect that the requirements of the tax cap to be met each and every year without causing long-term injury to Southold's fiscal health."

The budget, Russell said, reflects the necessity to maintain a healthy fund balance to both meet growing demands on town services and invest in infrastructure such as roads, which have been "severely compromised by recent weather events."

He added, "This budget is no frills, has no gimmicks and contains no one-shot wonders. It meets the town's financial obligations, ensures continuation of public services, and demonstrates fiscal restraint."

The budget includes an increase in the town's medical costs from $5,636,926 in 2016 to a projected cost of $6,322,711, as well as a total appropriation of $2,422,000 for road resurfacing and drainage projects.

In addition, there would be no new positions created or funded that were not established in the budget for 2016.

The supervisor said the two chief expenditures that made it difficult to comply with the cap, the first being the increase in medical costs.

"Our obligations to Empire next year have increased nearly 10 percent, or over $500,000," he said. "Second is the need to invest in crumbling roads. Severe winter weather over the past few years has left roads crumbling. The allocation of $2.4 million is substantially more than budgets in the past, which typically were under $1 million. That figure may be fine to stay on top of road maintenance in normal years but it simply isn't right now."
Discussing the fund balance, Russell said in order to comply with the tax cap in the past, the town has needed to apportion more into each new budget than what was preferable.

"Wall Street reacts poorly to this approach, and we all read about towns to the west that are in dire fiscal straights because of these tactics. The fund is a chief indicator of the fiscal health of a town and we needed to reverse the trend of it shrinking," he said.

Property tax levy growth for local governments will be capped at 0.68 percent for 2017, decreasing slightly from 2016, when it was 0.73 percent, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli in July.

"In what is becoming the norm, New York’s local governments must cope with extremely limited growth for property taxes to stay within the tax cap,” said DiNapoli. “Low inflation has positive effects for consumers, but it also reflects an uncertain economic environment. Local officials have faced growing fixed costs and limited budget options for years, but 2017 will necessitate even tougher financial choices.”

The 2017 fiscal year is the fourth year in a row that local governments have had their levy growth capped at less than 2 percent and the second year in a row that it has been capped at less than 1 percent, a release from DiNapoli's office said.

Patch photo by Lisa Finn.