Oyster Bay pitches $370.2M budget amid escalating costs

Oyster Bay is proposing a $370.2 million budget for next year that boosts spending by 4.5% amid rising employee costs. 

The town is not proposing to pierce the tax cap next year and would essentially keep the levy flat. Last year, Oyster Bay approved a tax levy hike of more than 3.9% with its 2026 budget, the first such increase in seven years. Oyster Bay officials said state-mandated employee healthcare and pension costs cast pressure on the spending plan, mirroring a trend across Long Island. The town also plans to spend more than $95.4 million to cover debt service, up from $90 million this year.

Town employee benefit costs surge to $86.8 million in the proposed budget, up 8.2% from $80.2 million in the 2026 spending plan. 

"While total salaries remain virtually flat, there are significant increases in health insurance, scheduled debt service payments and in unfunded state mandates like our annual pension bill," Rob Darienzo, Oyster Bay's budget director, said during the town's Tuesday board meeting. 

Those expenses "comprised the vast majority of expenditure increases in the 2027 budget," he said, calling them "staggering."

Oyster Bay would collect $242.2 million in tax revenue, down $461 from the 2026 levy, according to the proposed budget plan. 

The town's sanitary district, which covers garbage pickup, saw the greatest tax levy increase — $6.2 million over last year's total. The increases stem, in part, from rises in incinerator and disposal charges, as well as employee health insurance costs.

The budget also includes $104.7 million earmarked for salaries, a slight jump from the $104 million in the adopted 2026 budget.

The town's debt bills have an "ebb and flow," Darienzo said. "We have chosen an aggressive payment schedule to save future interest costs."

Town officials said while employee benefit costs are climbing, the 2027 budget attempts to mitigate those impacts.

"Despite these extraordinary pressures, the Town remains committed to absorbing rising costs responsibly while protecting taxpayers and maintaining the services our residents rely on," Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino wrote in a letter accompanying the budget. 

Town board members unanimously approved pay bumps to their own salaries in 2024. Those raises also came with automatic annual increases, beginning in 2025: $2,500 for the supervisor, tax receiver and town clerk, and $1,500 for council members. 

The town is expected to vote on the final budget on Oct. 27.

In 2016, then-Supervisor John Venditto hiked the tax levy by 11.5% in an effort to reduce the town's deficit.

Last year, the town raised the total tax levy for 2026 by $9.2 million. The increase did not exceed the cap calculation. The 2026 budget raised property taxes for the average home by about $72 over 2025.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story contained incorrect information about the town's 2026 spending plan. 

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ

Joseph Ostapiuk covers the Town of Oyster Bay and the city of Glen Cove. He joined Newsday in 2023 after spending more than six years at the Staten Island Advance.