Huntington preliminary budget stays under tax cap

The Town of Huntington's preliminary 2026 budget calls for a 2.3% increase over the current budget, which translates to about a 2% tax hike for the average homeowner and wouldn't require town officials to pierce the tax cap, they said. 

The average homeowner can expect a $12 increase in their tax bill for the four major funds: general, highway, part town, and refuse, Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said.

Smyth said the biggest challenge in creating the $245,334,906 budget was dealing with inflationary costs while managing to keep services the same without layoffs.

“Staying under the tax cap is an expectation that the residents have; that we’re going to spend their money wisely and certainly not overspend,” Smyth said. “This budget is under the tax cap, which is an objective measurement of fiscal restraint.”

The tax levy is rising from $140,322,600 to $143,543,987, or about 2.3%. The New York State Tax Cap Act limits a local government’s overall growth in the property tax levy to 2% over the prior year’s levy or to the rate of inflation, whichever is less. However, the cap can vary slightly. Town officials point out that the final annual tax cap number is calculated through a formula created by the state. 

Smyth said this is the ninth consecutive year the town has been under the tax cap.

Huntington Town Clerk Andrew Raia presented the budget to the town board at a special board meeting Friday. The preliminary budget must be adopted by Nov. 20. 

Smyth, who is seeking reelection next month, touted the town’s financial strength, pointing out Moody's Investors Services upheld the town’s AAA bond rating for a fourth consecutive year. He said that rating saves taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and reinforces the town’s sound fiscal strategies.

But inflation has had an impact on the town's budget, as it has with residents and other municipalities.

“The town is not immune from inflationary pressures. All the consumables that the town needs to operate with, whether it’s raw materials like lumber, or paper in the offices, all of those things that we purchase on the open market — prices of everything has gone up,” Smyth said.

Health insurance and pension costs also are rising, Smyth said. Besides payroll, health care costs — the rates of which are set by the state — are the biggest expense. He said health costs are increasing by 5%, or about $1.5 million; pensions by about 5%, or $475,000.

“My goal with this budget was to hold the line on all the departments and any excess we found was moved to the highway department for paving roads and doing infrastructure work,” Smyth said.

The budget shows the town has earmarked about $43.8 million for the highway department.

Highway Superintendent Andre Sorrentino said his strategy has been to repair equipment on hand and use the saved money for infrastructure work.

A salary increase for elected officials is not included in the proposed budget. The town’s workforce is increasing by one person, in the IT department.

A public hearing on the preliminary budget is scheduled for Nov. 6. during the regular monthly meeting. There will be budget presentations from various departments at that meeting, Smyth said. It is set for 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 100 Main St.