Last Thursday, Islip officials presented a budget for FY2027 that would institute an 18% tax increase as municipalities continue to grapple with a blizzard of unfunded mandates from Albany.
The budget for the Town is now in limbo, as Supervisor Angie Carpenter (R-West Islip) sponsored the motion but none of the four Councilmembers seconded the motion. Under State law, a budget that is not formally adopted by the Town Council before the deadline without a proposed alternative is enacted when the deadline occurs.
The proposal is $306.5 million, compared to last year’s $288.9 million. That represents a $17.6 million increase.
Last month, all ten town supervisors in Suffolk County penned a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg) requesting a rework of the State’s mandates that compound with rising costs and contractual obligations.
“It’s no surprise. Across Long Island, we’re seeing budgets increasing – healthcare costs, pension obligations, contractual commitments,” said Carpenter before hearing a presentation from Town Comptroller Robert Kordic. “Most of these are largely unavoidable costs tied to our obligations to our employees, taxpayers, and the delivery of essential town services.”
Carpenter added that the residents have come to expect these services and “quite frankly, deserve.”
“But we must balance today’s financial challenges with our commitment to protecting the long-term financial health of the Town and protect our bond rating.”
Comptroller Kordic laid out that municipalities across Nassau and Suffolk are facing “tremendous challenges” that necessitate piercing the tax cap. If this budget is enacted, it would be the third consecutive year that Islip pierces the tax cap. Islip had not exceeded the tax cap since 2017.
Kordic said the impact on Islip homeowners would be a $135 increase – $772 to $907. He explained that the tax levy is driven by employee health insurance costs, which he said are expected to increase by $2.5 million, pension contributions ($1.3 million), and contractual salary obligations ($3.8 million). The largest albatross around this budget’s neck, as expected for some time, is the garbage disposal contract. The new garbage contract is expected to increase by $4.4 million. Debt service will also increase by about $3.2 million.
“Those five categories represent the majority of the budget increases,” said Kordic. He commended the Town’s commissioners and department heads for “working diligently” and “recognizing financial challenges ahead.”
“This budget maintains workforce levels and does not anticipate reduction in Town programs or services,” said Kordic. “The budget reflects the Town’s proposed financial plan for meeting its obligations addressing rising operating costs, maintaining municipal services, and maintaining a AAA bond rating with no service cuts or workforce decreases.”
Members of the Town Council, however, are standing on their reasons for abstaining from the vote.
“Once again this year, the Town Supervisor prepared a budget without meaningful input from her fellow Town Board members,” said Councilman Mike McElwee (R-West Islip) in a statement provided to The Messenger. “I firmly believe that if the Supervisor were willing to work collaboratively with the Town Board, share her vision and priorities, and engage us in meaningful discussions, we could work together to identify opportunities to reduce expenses, generate additional revenue, and operate our Town government more efficiently. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.”
McElwee said that Carpenter has “imposed a hiring freeze” that prevents departments from filling positions, even those already included in the budget, without her approval.
“Yet during this same period, the Supervisor has authorized multiple new hires. This raises legitimate concerns about consistency and transparency in how these decisions are made.”
McElwee recognized the Town’s Public Safety Department for “taking the initiative” to meet with Councilmembers to explain their budgetary requests and explain how department revenues could help offset their proposed expenses.
“This is exactly the type of communication and collaboration that should take place throughout the budget process,” said McElwee. He also lamented that this year’s budget, first presented in September, was delivered to Councilmembers electronically instead of on paper. He says the tangible copy makes for an easier task of “properly evaluating” a document of municipal budget’s “size and significance.”
McElwee adds that he supports piercing the tax cap, as without that flexibility, the Town “could face difficult decisions involving employee layoffs and reductions in services.”
“I do not believe our residents deserve to lose essential services because we fail to acknowledge these financial realities. However, supporting the ability to pierce the tax cap does not mean automatically supporting the proposed budget.” He and Councilmen John Lorenzo (C-West Sayville) and Jorge Guadrón (D-Central Islip), along with Supervisor Carpenter, voted to pierce the tax cap in September. Councilwoman DawnMarie Kuhn (R-Bohemia) did not.
McElwee said that he remains open to dialogue, but cannot be expected to “rubber-stamp” a budget that he had “no meaningful role in developing.” He called his and his colleagues’ abstentions not a vote “against our employees, departments, or essential services;” rather, a “clear indication that the budget process needs to change.”
Supervisor Carpenter disagrees with McElwee’s characterizations. In a statement to Newsday, referred to by a Town spokesperson to The Messenger, Carpenter said the budget was first issued to the Council on September 15.
“There was plenty of opportunity for feedback.”
Councilman Lorenzo told The Messenger he did not vote for the budget since residents are “already facing a serious affordability crisis.”
“WIth the rising costs of groceries, utilities, home heating, and everyday necessities, the last thing our hardworking families and seniors need is another tax increase,” said Lorenzo. “As elected officials, we have a responsibility to provide essential Town services while being mindful of the financial challenges facing our taxpayers.”
He said he is looking forward to working with his colleagues to find “responsible solutions” and “explore new revenue opportunities” without “placing additional financial burdens on Islip residents.”
“Our residents deserve a town government that works just as hard to protect their tax dollars as they do to earn them.”
The Town Board will meet next on Tuesday, November 17. The Council has until November 20 to approve a spending plan. Otherwise, the proposed budget will be automatically adopted.
