Oyster Bay OKs budget with 3.5% tax increase

Over the objection of some residents, Oyster Bay has passed its 2011 budget with a 3.5 percent tax hike, making it the first Long Island town to approve an increase this year.

The board voted 6-0 Tuesday, with Councilwoman Rebecca Alesia absent, to approve the $242,878,344 budget, marking a 1.7 percent increase in spending from 2010.

Supervisor John Venditto told the three residents who spoke against the increase at a town hall meeting Tuesday that their town property taxes, on average, would go up roughly $30 a year. He noted that there were no dissenters at two budget hearings held last month.

"The majority of residents who want those quality-of-life improvements understand that there's a reasonable cost involved," Venditto said.

He said he wouldn't support employee layoffs, fee increases and service reductions taking place in some towns forgoing a tax bump.

"What was on the menu was 3.5 percent - or let the Town of Oyster Bay be like every other place in the world," he said, referring to budget cuts elsewhere.

"But the bottom line," countered Terence Kelly, a process server from East Norwich, "is that our taxes are going up and theirs aren't."

Kelly asked whether the board would be taking a raise this year - Venditto said no - and wondered if the town's 3-year-old Public Safety Department was "redundant" because Nassau police still handle most law enforcement. Venditto said that in a post-9/11 world, the town believed that the added security and presence provided by a dedicated public safety department is worth the expense.

The town reported it would save $4.2 million next year as a result of its early retirement plan, but it was also seeing roughly the same amount of cost increases from debt services and health insurance.

Still, another speaker said the town overlooked alternatives such as reopening labor union contracts to seek further contributions.

"It's a little bit here, a little bit there, and finally, you have a lot," said Anita MacDougall, an Oyster Bay resident calling for "tax reform."

For 2011, only Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold propose a tax increase, but their budgets have yet to be formally approved.