Islip forgoes tax hike in proposed budget

Supervisor Phil Nolan plans to present the Islip Town clerk Friday with a 2012 budget containing a zero tax increase.

The $121-million budget contains spending increases in the 1 percent to 3 percent range for most town departments, comptroller Joseph Ludwig said. The increases largely reflect the town's contractual labor obligations and increased fixed costs, such as state pension and health insurance contributions as well as debt servicing and increases in fuel and utility costs, he said.

To avoid a tax hike, however, the town has pared its total workforce, from 1,029 budgeted positions in 2007 to 730 actual positions. "We've seen a steady elimination of positions through a combination of layoffs, leaner staffing and the state's early retirement incentive over three years, and we're now starting to reap the payoff from those in payroll savings," Ludwig said.

Islip also proposes foregoing the practice of funding its 2012 state retirement obligations early, in December, and instead paying the amount by the final February 2013 deadline to cut an estimated $5 million to $6 million from the 2012 budget cycle.

Islip will also appropriate a combined $23 million from its "rainy day" fund and reserves for debt servicing. That amount is in line with similar amounts appropriated in recent years, Ludwig said. Management would forgo pay raises as part of cost-saving measures, he added.

Nolan, who is running for re-election in November, said the town was delivering a no-tax-hike budget but would continue to deliver the "excellent level" of town services residents expect -- most recently evidenced after Tropical Storm Irene, he said.

"Islip retains the lowest town taxes on Long Island," he said, citing figures supplied by town assessor Ron Devine that show the average owner of a $400,000 home in Islip pays $356.79, while the second-lowest town tax is paid in Brookhaven, at $612.30, he said.

Tom Croci, the GOP candidate running against Nolan, said it was too early in the budget process to comment fully because paper copies had yet to be made available. He noted Nolan had presided over tax increases in 2008 (2.9 percent resulting in an average increase of $9 for homeowners) and 2009 (2.3 percent, raising the average homeowner's town tax bill by $6).

Council member Trish Bergin Weichbrodt, a Republican, said the tentative budget presented Friday will be submitted to the full town board Tuesday. She said she looks forward to a full discussion by the board ahead of a vote to adopt it as the preliminary budget on Oct. 25. A vote on the final budget is scheduled for Nov. 10.