Towns slam Levy but will pick up tuition tab

Suffolk County town supervisors have reluctantly agreed to a county plan that requires taxpayers to pay for $10.25 million in tuition costs for residents attending community colleges outside of Suffolk -- but blasted County Executive Steve Levy's handling of the situation.

"Now we're stuck with what amounts to an increase in taxes that's been foisted upon us by the outgoing county executive. He did this without any forewarning," Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko said Monday after a meeting of half a dozen Suffolk supervisors and town representatives.

In an emailed response, Levy said, "I lost tens of millions of dollars from state cuts this year, and yet I did not raise taxes. This new process ends an unfair system where taxpayers in some towns were subsidizing the students from other towns that most used out-of-county colleges."

By law, counties in New York must reimburse out-of-county community colleges their residents attend for the difference between the college's resident and nonresident tuition rates. In the 2012 county budget, Levy shifted tuition responsibility to Suffolk's towns.

Babylon residents will likely see the biggest rise in taxes because the town will have to cover $3.2 million in tuition costs. Officials did not have per-household cost estimates Monday.

Other towns with large tuition bills include Huntington, where taxpayers will see an increase of about $30 per household, said town spokesman A.J. Carter. In Brookhaven, the increase will be about $11 per household, Lesko said. The three towns' property tax bills next year will specifically itemize the tuition tax increase.

Babylon town supervisor and County Executive-elect Steve Bellone said he would try to find a solution once he takes office next year. "It doesn't make any sense and it's not fair for the county to be essentially passing the buck on this issue," Bellone said, adding he would seek state legislation to "get this mandate lifted entirely, whether it's on the county or the towns."

Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan, who lost his re-election bid this month, criticized the county for acting "very late." He said Islip would not raise taxes now to pay for the tuition and that GOP Supervisor-elect Tom Croci would have to deal with the issue after Jan. 1 by cutting costs.

Croci said he is prepared. "We will have to find a way in the short term to make up for this additional cost. In the long term, we are going to have to look at a way to deal with this legislation at the state level."

With Denise M. Bonilla

and Yamiche Alcindor