Northport trustees pass $20.4M village budget

Village of Northport trustees unanimously passed a $20.4 million budget Tuesday night, approving a plan for 2016-2017 that will bust the tax cap, increasing the tax levy 3.27 percent.

The village needed three out of its five trustees to approve surpassing the state cap, which is about 0.45 percent, officials said.

The budget represents a nearly $450,000 increase over current fiscal year spending. Northport residents will see their taxes go up by $1.86 per $100 of assessed property value, officials said.

The village’s biggest expense will be $5.8 million on Home and Community Services, with $4 million of that attributed to ongoing sewer-treatment plant upgrades. Deputy Mayor Henry Tobin has said the village would be reimbursed for much of that by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp.

The second largest budget expense is $5.4 million for public safety, including $2.9 million for village Police Department salaries.

Northport’s new budget will leave the village with a projected $233,000 surplus.

The village’s next fiscal year runs March 1, 2016, to Feb. 28, 2017.