Village trustees authorize tax override

Port Jefferson is the latest Long Island village to override the state's property tax cap -- a move officials say is necessary for the North Shore village to make budget.

Port Jefferson's five trustees voted unanimously on Monday to give the village the ability to override the state's 2 percent property tax levy limit. The village is considering a tax increase of 6.3 percent for fiscal 2012-13, officials said.

About a third of Long Island's villages have passed similar measures.

Mayor Margot Garant said the move is necessary to keep capital projects moving forward in the village, where revenue has dried up and pension contributions have steadily climbed. "We are in the eye of a storm right now," she said.

The village is considering a $9.3 million budget, treasurer Don Pearce said. A public hearing on the spending plan is scheduled for April 16, he said.

The village's tax levy would increase by about $322,000, to $5.4 million, under the proposal, records show. The owner of an average home in Port Jefferson would see village taxes rise $67, from $1,065 to $1,132, annually.

Pearce said village officials trimmed nearly $400,000 from an earlier budget proposal.

But resident Donald Pawluk Sr., who attended Monday night's meeting, said more budget cuts could ease the tax increase. He said residents will closely watch the budget to see if trustees propose more trims.

"I think there is still cutting that could be done to the budget," Pawluk said. "The thing we're waiting for right now is to see what the final budget is."

Pearce said the tax increase is driven in part by escalating pension costs, which have climbed from $199,000 four years ago to $550,000 next year. Meanwhile, mortgage taxes, a prime source of revenue, have dwindled from $1 million five years ago to an expected $255,000 in 2012-13, he said.

Trustee Bruce D'Abramo also faulted the pension costs. "It's unfortunate the state retirement numbers went up so much," he said.