Brookhaven OKs $260M budget for 2012

With reservations, the Brookhaven Town Board voted to accept Supervisor Mark Lesko's proposed 2012 budget Tuesday, after the spending plan was unveiled publicly.

The $260-million budget, presented by Lesko at Tuesday's town board meeting, would hold the line on town taxes for a third consecutive year. The average homeowner would pay $630.33 in town taxes.

But board members questioned some of Lesko's proposals, including his plan to lay off eight park rangers, his budget for part-time employees, and his intention to keep town beaches unstaffed until July 4.

Councilwoman Jane Bonner said the plan to lay off park rangers was potentially "penny-wise and pound-foolish." One speaker from the public, park ranger Arno Herwerth of Hauppauge, agreed.

Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld also said he was uneasy about Lesko's plan to hold off on staffing lifeguards at beaches until July 4, a few weeks later than the usual start date. And Councilman Daniel Panico questioned whether it was necessary for the supervisor to increase the budget for part-time and seasonal employees in his office to $10,000 more than Lesko is expected to spend this year.

Lesko deflected criticism about his budget for part-time employees, saying the spending plan would cut his office's overall budget by more than $200,000 from two years ago. Service cuts in the budget were inevitable, he said. "I said there were going to be modest service reductions before I issued the budget, and I was true to my word," he said.

Town board members agreed crafting a budget will be difficult this year because of diminished mortgage tax and landfill revenue.

Since the board voted to accept Lesko's tentative budget, it will be the subject of a Nov. 10 public hearing. The board could vote to adopt the budget Nov. 17. State law requires the town to pass a budget by Nov. 20.

Town board members agreed that the key piece of the budget process is keeping taxes flat. It has become increasingly difficult to do that without digging into the town's surplus, Councilman Tim Mazzei said.

Lesko's budget would take $14.6 million from surplus.

"The good news is that we've held the line on taxes," Mazzei said. "The bad news is we've had to use surplus to be able to do that."