Low turnout for budget hearing

By Deborah S. Morris
deborah.morris@newsday.com

Only one person spoke at Tuesday night’s Huntington Town Board meeting during a public hearing on the preliminary operating and capital budgets.

Town Supervisor Frank Petrone said it has been the practice over the past five years to have the budget public hearings moved up one hour to 6 p.m., to give residents enough time to comment.

“In case we have a long session,” Petrone said. “But we never know. We’ve been stuck before where people complained that there wasn’t enough time.”

Public notices for the hearings were published, as required by law, in the September 27 editions of two area weekly newspapers.

The lone speaker, Bill Dowler, who is running for election to the town board in November, said the time change is confusing to the residents who are used to the town board meetings starting at 7 p.m. and contributed the change to the low resident turnout. He also was upset that the public hearings, on the operating and capital budgets, were to be separate but were combined into one.

“This is probably one of the more important issues to residents because it has to do with spending our tax dollars,” Dowler said. “Conveniently the meeting time was changed. It’s ridiculous. They short changed the people who had an opinion to express.”

Petrone said the board will vote on the budget next month. He said that meeting will be held on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m., instead of the previous Tuesday because of Election Day.

The 2008 preliminary budget released by the town maintains the current tax rate in the three major town funds: the General Fund, the Part-Town Fund and the Refuse Fund. In addition, for the second consecutive year, there will be no increase in the Highway Fund tax rate.

The budget of $191,313,577 is $2.5 million more than the 2007 fiscal plan. The increase is largely due to an increase in payroll costs and operating expenses. The average town tax payer who is living in a home assessed at $4,100, will pay $759 per year in taxes for the three major funds, which represents no increase from 2007.

The town’s 2008 capital budget is $13.5 million, a decrease of $3.4 million, and includes funding for several major initiatives and new projects. The Capital Budget also includes $1.2 million for the Veteran’s Community Center at Soundview.

Fundshave also been earmarked for several projects including $600,000 to complete drainage improvements on Round Swamp Road; $500,000 for Economic Development Corp. acquisition of property and Huntington Station Revitalization; $250,000 for road and drainage improvements at Bagatelle Road; $100,000 for the Dix Hills Pool locker rooms and $175,000 for GIS Technology in the Highway Department.

“We’ve talked things out before so people pretty much know [what’s going on] that if there’s anything glaring that’s an issue, we’ll make a modification,” Petrone said. “After it’s voted on, it becomes the adopted budget, then it gets sent to the county where they do the warrant to decide the tax rate.”