Brookhaven considers tax cap for November ballot

Brookhaven residents might have the opportunity to vote this fall on a tax cap that would prevent town officials from raising property taxes by more than 4 percent per year.

Councilman Daniel Panico proposed the cap at a town board meeting Tuesday. Supervisor Mark Lesko resisted a similar measure proposed last year by Panico's predecessor Keith Romaine, who died in November.

In August, Lesko called Romaine's proposal "a headline-grabbing tax gimmick," but Tuesday the supervisor praised Panico for making the move. Lesko, a Democrat, said he is open to the proposal in part because Panico, like Romaine a Republican, is not in the midst of a re-election campaign, as Romaine was last year. The board rejected Romaine's proposal.

Panico said he wants the mandatory vote on the proposal by residents to take place in November. A local tax cap - which also exists in Southampton Town and Suffolk County - would send a message of fiscal conservatism to state and federal lawmakers, Panico said.

"This is a law that is going to endure long after we are gone," Panico said.

Lesko said he wants an economist to study the proposal to see whether it would negatively impact the town's bond rating. He also said a tax cap is "an academic discussion" because he hasn't raised town taxes in his one-plus year on the job.

Town taxes in Brookhaven constitute about 6 percent of a homeowner's tax bill. The town's tax rate of about $4.50 per $100 of assessed value yields a bill of about $180 for the owner of a home assessed at $4,000.

A public hearing on the tax cap proposal will be held June 1.

Panico's measure comes as Lesko is attempting to rein in the town's debt. The supervisor proposed a local law Tuesday that promises to "limit debt to 15 percent of the town's expenditures or revenues, whichever is less," and another that would cap spending based on revenue and population growth.

Lesko said Brookhaven is currently spending almost 20 percent of its general fund on debt and the town faces a potential $19 million budget gap by 2011 if it does not reverse its "unsustainable" fiscal picture.

Lesko's debt law will have a public hearing on May 18. The spending cap hearing will take place June 1.

Lou Marcoccia, the town's tax receiver, said he supports all three caps. "It's important that we cut spending," he said.

In other town board news, Panico also proposed an "anti-nepotism law" that he said would "add more transparency to the hiring process here at town hall." The proposal would require an applicant for a town job to disclose any relative in town government before the applicant could be hired.

Lesko said he supports the measure, which is modeled after a county law. The measure will have a public hearing on June 1.