Islip board approves $117M budget, no tax rise

The Islip Town Board Thursday approved a $117-million budget that will keep the town portion of property taxes flat in 2011.

At a 90-minute budget hearing Thursday, officials debated expenditures, in some cases line by line, and in the end passed Supervisor Phil Nolan's proposed budget, 4-1. The budget, with a 3 percent spending increase over last year, eliminates one manager and 10 vacant positions.

About 30 employees are expected to take an early retirement incentive. The town portion of the tax bill for the average home assessed at $400,000 will remain at $340.40.

Town officials said increases in cable franchise fees and park and recreation fees, along with a $10-million appropriation from town reserves, helped them hold the line on taxes.

"These are tough economic times and we're all trying to do the best we can," said Republican Councilwoman Trish Bergin Weichbrodt, who voted yes along with three Democratic colleagues. Republican Councilman Steven Flotteron voted no.

The town expects to collect $6.7 million in taxes on new mortgages - a steep drop from $26 million in 2006. Last year, the town laid off 37 employees because of the drop in revenue.

Flotteron Thursday proposed several last-minute spending cuts, but other board members said they had not had the chance to investigate the ramifications.

The board did adopt a few minor corrections, one of which reduced the budget by $20,000, to $117,054,680.

Noting the recommendation of a recent audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who urged board members to take a more active role in budget oversight, Flotteron said the board should have held a public work session on the budget so members could discuss budget details before the hearing.

"My job is to ask questions," he said.

Flotteron said he plans to introduce a resolution to mandate such a work session.

Much of the discussion centered on the financial ramifications of shrinking the town's workforce. By the end of the year, the town expects to employ about 730 people - 25 percent less than in 2006.

Nolan said the overall savings equals about $15 million a year, but noted that some of the immediate savings have been offset by contract-mandated salary step increases as well as lump-sum payments to departing employees for unused leave.

He called the workforce reductions - achieved mostly through attrition - "the central driving force" of his strategy to rein in costs.

"Those savings are forever," he said.