Post by onthejob on Nov 19, 2014 0:40:00 GMT -5
Oyster Bay Town Board approves 2015 budget, unannounced 8.8 percent property tax hike
November 18, 2014 by TED PHILLIPS / ted.phillips@newsday.com
Oyster Bay Town Hall on March 26, 2012.
The Oyster Bay Town Board unanimously passed an unannounced 8.8 percent property tax levy increase in its 2015 budget Tuesday.
The tax hike was a departure from the budget proposed Sept. 30 -- and which was subject to a public hearing -- that would have kept taxes virtually flat. It is the second year in a row the town has overridden the state tax cap, set at 1.56 percent next year, to raise the tax by 8.8 percent.
John Capobianco, spokesman for the Town of Oyster Bay Democratic Committee, said the tax hike passed by the all-Republican board was "unbelievable . . . It is not fair to the taxpayers and the residents," and there was "no notice, no information, no access to the budget," he said.
Town officials said in an interview after the meeting that the increase was necessary to create recurring revenue. "I wanted this budget to be the one that puts us in a position to control our own destiny, and I believe this budget does that," Town Supervisor John Venditto said.
The $278.4 million spending plan is up 0.6 percent from the 2014 budget of $276.8 million. Town officials said the average property tax increase would be about $90 a year.
Asked why the town did not announce the hike in advance, Venditto said residents had ample time for input; and they like the services and infrastructure the town provides.
"They know already what their town government is doing," he said. "This is the job they elect us to do. We are the stewards of the town budget."
The board passed two budget resolutions and a property tax cap override without discussion as part of a calendar of 112 resolutions, to which the board devoted a total of less than five minutes.
Venditto said he decided on Friday to raise taxes.
He added that budget presentations were unnecessary. "Why would you do that? Who are you telling in that room, five people? How many people were in that room that weren't town workers?" he said, referring to a sparsely attended 10 a.m. meeting.
Earlier this year, the town's financial management prompted Standard & Poor's to downgrade its credit rating to BBB from A- and Moody's Investors Service to downgrade it to A3 from A2, in part because of a history of deficits and overestimated revenue.
Officials said the tax hike was in part intended to boost the credit rating. The biggest tax increase will be in the highway fund, most of which will be borne by homeowners. The levy on homeowners for the highway fund will rise to $36.3 million from $27.2 million, a 33.5 percent jump.
The town plans to make its budget available to the public next Tuesday.Spokeswoman Marta Kane said it takes time to make and bind copies. The preliminary budget, which did not include tax increases, is available on the town's website.