$504.1 million Hempstead Town budget to freeze taxes in 2023, officials say
Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin along with members of the Nassau County Legislature join with County, Town, City and Village elected officials, as well as local homeowners, to demand that Governor Hochul remove a provision from her budget, which mandates that localities permit Accessory Dwelling Units on the property of single family homes, overruling local zoning laws on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 in East Meadow. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Hempstead Town has proposed a $504.1 million budget for 2023 that will freeze property taxes, the third consecutive year the town has either frozen or reduced property taxes, the town supervisor said.
The spending plan unveiled last Friday reflects a nearly 1% increase over the current year’s budget of $500.3 million, but Supervisor Donald Clavin said that modest hike would not lead to an increase in the amount of taxes town residents pay.
Town Comptroller John Mastromarino said the estimated town tax levy would remain flat at $250.5 million. He anticipates the town using $53.2 million in reserves to balance the budget.
In a message posted on the town website Sept. 30, Clavin said he believes it’s important to offer a budget that does not overburden residents with a tax increase at a time of inflation. He added that town services would “remain unchanged” and his administration’s efforts to modernize and digitize town departments would continue.
The town will have an estimated $180 million in reserves heading into 2024, about 35% of the budget, Mastromarino said. The town is required to maintain reserves equivalent to a minimum 25% of proposed spending before it must raise taxes to balance a budget.
The comptroller said the town reported its proposed increased use of reserves to Moody’s Investors Service, the financial monitoring firm that recently awarded the town with a credit rating increase to Aaa status — the highest score a municipality may receive.
In his budget note, Clavin said the Aaa rating will help improve town finances long-term in the form of interest rate savings on municipal bonds.
Mastromarino said one reason the town is estimating an increased use of reserve funds in 2023 — it had budgeted $20.5 million in fund balance in the current year — is a sharp decrease in mortgage tax revenues this year. Those revenues had increased dramatically in 2020 and 2021 as real estate transfers and home sale prices skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said sales tax revenues also have declined some this year.
“Sales tax seems to be OK, but it’s the mortgage tax that’s fallen off the cliff,” Mastromarino said, adding that the town does not anticipate those numbers going back up.
While Hempstead Town is navigating many of the same inflationary pressures its residents face, Mastromarino said the municipality is feeling less pressure regarding expenses. The money coming in is the greater concern, he said.
“Going into next year we’re going to look at it month-to-month to see how revenue is going,” he said.
Current projections show the town ending 2022 with a $2 million surplus.
Before adopting the proposed budget, the Town Board will host a pair of hearings at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Oct. 19.
