New Port Jeff budget hikes taxes, cuts jobs

The Port Jefferson Village Board adopted a 2011-2012 budget Monday night that calls for a raise in property taxes, a cut in jobs and a reduction in spending in several departments.

The new budget of $8,758,389 is 5.7 percent or $472,549 more than the current budget of $8,285,840.

The final budget is due May 1.

To pay for the budget, the village will raise the property tax rate by 8.29 percent. The average household would pay $64 more in taxes for an average tax bill of $864, according to village treasurer Don Pearce.

"It's a work in progress," said Mayor Margot Garant of the budget after a public hearing at Village Hall Monday night.

Trustee Leslea Snyder said the elimination of four part-time and two full-time jobs, while fiscally prudent, was painful for the village government.

"We had to make some tough choices," she said.

The loss of tax revenue from a reduced tax assessment on the Long Island Power Authority's power plant in Port Jefferson harbor led to the tax increase, the job cuts and other cutbacks, officials said.

Last year, the utility paid the village $2.4 million in taxes -- nearly 30 percent of the village's $8.3 million budget.

On April 6, the village and LIPA agreed to reduce the tax assessment by 10 percent this year as a temporary solution to LIPA's long-term goal of reducing the assessment on its power plant by 90 percent. The assessment was reduced from $11,860,945 to $10,674,852 for the proposed 2011-2012 budget.

About another $200,000 in assessments were reduced in the budget due to residents' successful grievances of their property tax bills.

At the public hearing Monday night, resident Don Pawluk, 64, questioned why the village spent $450,000 on code enforcement officers.

"They're creating their own little police force," he said after the hearing. Residents in need of law enforcement aid should call the Suffolk County Police Department, he said.