Proposed Shelter Island budget is same as current one

Shelter Island Supervisor James Dougherty has filed a proposed 2011 budget for the town, a spending plan he said is about the same as the current $10.2-million budget.

The proposed budget calls for no new programs and makes no significant cuts in service, Dougherty said.

The precise tax rate has not been set, he said, because the town assessor is still determining the total assessed valuation of the town. Dougherty said he expected the tax rate to be about the same as, or slightly higher than, the current rate of $2.09459 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The proposed budget will be presented to the town board Tuesday at its work session, at 2 p.m. at town hall. Shelter Island, with a year-round population of about 2,200, is small enough that a change in the value of only a few waterfront homes can have a noticeable impact on the tax rate. During the past seven years, with no major changes in town spending, the tax rate has seen increases ranging from 4.5 to 13 percent."It's essentially a flat budget," Dougherty said of the 2011 proposal. "The tax rate may go up a bit."