All five East End towns pass budgets piercing state tax cap

Long Island Morning Edition

The MTA says that about 80 of the Long Island Rail Road's nearly 600 bridges, viaducts and tunnels are in poor or marginal condition and "at a critical point of deterioration." The LIRR plans to spend about $600 million in the MTA's next five-year capital plan to perform major repairs on about 11 structures. MTA officials and experts said there is no reason to be concerned over the safety of the bridges and other structures, which are routinely inspected to assure they are structurally sound. Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that the MTA has yet to figure out how it will pay for its next $68.4 billion capital program — the largest in the authority’s history. While the overwhelming amount focuses on "state of good repair" maintenance, the budget also sets aside large sums for expansion efforts, including $2.75 billion for the proposed Interborough Express light rail system in Queens and Brooklyn. The MTA’s forthcoming congestion pricing tolling plan is intended to generate revenue only for the MTA’s current 2020-24 capital program, and not its next one.

Marc Herbst, Suffolk County’s representative on the MTA Board and the executive director of the Long Island Contractors Association — a construction trade group — said the fact that 80 LIRR bridges and other structures are, by the MTA’s own assessment, in critical need of repairs does not represent "extraordinary circumstances." He said the MTA uses a national standard in its assessments, and that being in poor or marginal condition could reflect cosmetic issues like rust, and not safety problems.

Herbst agreed with how the MTA is prioritizing its capital budget. "I think we’re moving in the right direction. As a person in the infrastructure and construction industry, I’d like to do it all at once. But, realistically, the money is not there to do that," he said.

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Patrons of various businesses and services around town may have noticed a bevy of bright, young faces behind the counters of Shinnecock Hardware or Revco Lighting + Electrical Supply, in the groves of Milk Pail Orchard, or donning a set of scrubs at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. And that is due to the work-based learning program at Southampton High School — an alternative educational track for some mainstream students. “I believe it’s important to stress to our students that there is honor and self-respect to be earned through a hard day’s work,” explained Tom Little, the program’s coordinator, during a recent Board of Education work session. “Education comes in many forms. While we emphasize college in high school, I believe it is just as important to showcase learning by doing to our students.” Michelle Trauring reports on 27east.com that registered with the New York State Education Department as a General Education Work Experience program, it allows students to earn high school elective credit for paid employment, or volunteer positions, with local business and organizations. All students qualify for the program, Little said, and earn one credit for 300 work hours, or half a credit for 150 hours — which can substitute for one required Regents exam. Currently, 17 students are enrolled in the work-based learning program. Several past graduates have won scholarships from the Construction Career Charitable Fund and landed construction jobs of their choice, Little said.

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A proposal to close the handful of remaining sand mines on residentially zoned property in the Town of Southampton promises to be contested during a public hearing on the matter tomorrow at 1 p.m. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that on one side are the board’s Democratic majority and environmentalists, who say closing mines is in keeping with the goals of Southampton Town’s Comprehensive Plan to protect the groundwater and its zoning code, which outlawed mines in the early 1970s. On the other side are those in the construction business, most prominently John Tintle, the owner of East Coast Mines, the largest remaining sand mine in town. Tintle has been joined by Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, the lone Republican on the board. The law being considered by the board cites the Comprehensive Plan’s effort to protect Southampton Town’s sole-source aquifer, from which it obtains all of its drinking water, and the town’s right to amortize preexisting, nonconforming uses that are not abandoned by their owners.

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The five towns on eastern Long Island approved budgets that will pierce the state tax cap in 2025, as the municipalities struggled with the rising expense of employees' health care and pensions. Tara Smith and Joe Werkmeister report in NEWSDAY that Southampton approved the highest tax levy hike, at 11%, while East Hampton is planning a 9.2% increase. Shelter Island and Riverhead approved tax levy increases of 7.8%; Southold approved a 7.48% increase.

Despite the tax increases, four of the five towns approved pay raises for elected officials. Riverhead scaled back its proposal amid public opposition; Southold was the lone East End town to refrain from increasing elected officials' salaries.

“Inflation has hit the towns as much as everyone’s household,” Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said at a town board meeting last month. “Every municipality is in the same boat, struggling to figure out how to provide those services to the community.”

In Riverhead, the town board approved a $73.5 million spending plan that hikes the tax levy by 7.89% — slightly less than the 7.92% increase that officials had pitched in September. That proposal would have increased the supervisor's salary $10,000, from $115,148 to $125,148 — by 8.7%

Instead, the supervisor's salary will rise $3,771 to $118,919 — a 3.2% raise. Riverhead Town board members will also receive 3.2% increases, modeled after what town employees are due under their union contracts.

Salaries for town board members will rise from $48,955 to $50,558. Two town board members, Ken Rothwell and Joann Waski, told Newsday they would not take raises in 2025.

In an interview, Waski acknowledged that raises for elected officials are “always unpopular” but said she may accept the raise in future years.

“Although it’s described as a part-time job, it is a full-time job and then some,” she said.

Other cost drivers in Riverhead’s budget include $400,000 for new police, fire marshal and buildings and grounds vehicles and $200,000 for new radios for law enforcement.

Taxes on a home valued at $720,000 would rise by about $288 next year, town financial administrator Jeanette DiPaola said.

To pierce the tax cap, 60% of the town board must approve. Then the board can vote on the budget.

On the south fork, Southampton adopted a $133.9 million budget, a $10.7 million spending boost. Southampton last exceeded the tax cap in 2013 when it approved the following year's budget, a town official said.

Taxes on a home with a market value of $1 million, the average assessed value in Southampton, would rise $140, according to town projections.

The supervisor’s salary would rise from $143,193 to $149,773, and councilmembers' salaries would increase from $77,849 to $82,795.

Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, the lone Republican on the board, voted against the budget.

On Shelter Island, the town board approved a $17.4 million budget that hikes spending $1.6 million.

The tax levy will rise 7.8%, slightly lower than an earlier projection of 8%. A home valued at $1 million will see an increase of $205 per year, Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams said.

The adopted budget lowered elected officials' pay hikes from 3.7% to 3%, bringing the supervisor’s salary to $103,700 and council members' to $46,400.

Town officials also dropped plans to purchase a $93,000 high-water rescue vehicle, half of which would have been covered by a grant.

Still, Councilman Benjamin Dyett Jr. described the final budget as a “hard pill to swallow” since much of the increase is driven by mandated costs.

The East Hampton Town Board unanimously adopted its $103.9 million budget.

Overall, the budget boosts spending by $8.4 million, or 8.8%. The town pierced the 2% cap for the first time since the state tax cap law took effect in 2012. The tax levy will increase 9.2%.

The East Hampton Town supervisor’s salary will rise to $142,644. The salary for councilmembers will increase to $89,965.

Taxes on a home in the unincorporated parts of town, with an average value of $1.1 million, will rise $104, according to East Hampton Town projections.

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The long-awaited arrival and installation of three algae harvesters that will help remove toxic algae from Lake Agawam in Southampton Village is getting closer to being a reality. Just a few weeks after Southampton Town voters approved a land swap in a townwide referendum that will allow the town to alienate an area of parkland in the village to install and house the harvesters, Southampton Village officials received the news that the Environmental Protection Agency has signed off on necessary approvals that will allow the project to move forward. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the EPA approved the required environmental assessments and, as of the end of last month, finalized the language for a 30-day public notice. Representatives from AECOM, the Florida-based engineering firm that will manufacture and install the three harvesters, notified the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation at the end of last month that the EPA had given the project the green light, and also confirmed with DEC officials that they had sent in all the necessary materials for DEC review of the project. Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger said he did not expect any work on the harvesters to be done during the colder months but was optimistic that by the time the weather warms up, the installation process could begin.

When installed, the harvesters will treat up to 3 million gallons of Lake Agawam water each day by binding algae cells together to form larger algae particles, physically removing the algae from the water and returning clean water back into the lake. The algae harvesters also remove key nutrients fueling the harmful algae blooms, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The harvesters will be set up at Doscher Park, a small and formerly underutilized CPF-owned parcel adjacent to Agawam Park, totaling 1.6 acres. In order to do that, Southampton Town was required to go through the process of alienating the parkland, essentially exchanging it for another piece of preserved land, in this case a much larger 4.2-acre parcel at nearby 137 Pond Lane.