Another salary boost for elected officials included in Smithtown's budget proposal

Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim’s administration has pitched a proposed $129.6 million budget for 2024 that calls for a 4% pay increase for town board officials, a year after they got a 10.5% raise. 

The budget, which would raise residential taxes by 1.9%, also would hike Wehrheim's salary by 4% to about $151,000 — a year after his 22% percent raise in the 2023 budget.

The proposed salary increases drew objections from some residents at an Oct. 19 public hearing.

Town resident Anita Castorina, 81, said she was “shocked” by the pay raise proposals coming after the salary hikes last year.

But Wehrheim said in an interview he stood behind the salary increases for board members.

The supervisor pointed to town officials having approved $121 million in capital improvements, along with arranging for the reconstruction of 75% of the town’s parks and handling work on sewer projects in Kings Park.

“The folks that are getting these increases are well worth what we’re giving them,” Wehrheim said. “Yes, we will get complaints, but the majority of the taxpayers see what we’re doing and they're not going to complain about that.”

Salaries for those elected to the town board, which are part-time jobs, would increase by 4%, from $85,596 to $89,020 under the budget proposal. 

Elected officials' salaries are adjusted based on the prior year's cost of living according to a resolution passed several years ago, according to Nicole Garguilo, a spokeswoman for Wehrheim.

Overall, spending on salaries accounts for 33% of Smithtown’s proposed budget.

The spending plan would raise the $5,500 taxes for the average Smithtown home by $30.57. That would include a $10 increase to $540 in solid waste fees in Smithtown’s Solid Waste Residential District, which covers waste collection and leaf and brush removal.

Higher costs for health insurance, New York State retirement minimum wages and other state-required mandates added more than $2 million in additional operating costs for the town, according to the town supervisor. He said the town also has to cope with rising costs of fuel and waste disposal, along with inflation.

“I think that’s a budget that the taxpayers can live with,” Wehrheim said of the proposed budget in a recent interview. “There’s no reduction in services, there are no layoffs of employees. And considering the times we’re in, quite frankly, and New York State unfunded mandates that keep coming down, all in all, we did pretty well this year and we’ll be fiscally sound going into 2025.” 

Legislators are due to vote on the budget Tuesday.