Hempstead Town's budget boosts spending by 2.7% amid deficit

Hempstead Town's 2027 fiscal budget boosts spending by 2.7% and relies on the use of reserves and property sales to close a deficit.

The $591.7 million budget, which the town board approved Thursday, keeps flat the taxes on the levies over which the board has direct control. The budget includes 74 tax levies, of which the town board has direct control over 60. Those levies total $284.8 million, the same as in 2026. The 14 levies that the town board does not control total $109.2 million, a 4.5% increase over the $104.5 million in the current year. Which levies hit particular properties depends on where they are located.

"While holding the line on taxes, the town has made substantial investments to enhance municipal infrastructure, parks, facilities, and much more," Town Supervisor John Ferretti said at the budget hearing before the board voted.

The budget includes $26.7 million in "miscellaneous" revenue for 2027, a significant portion of which would come from the potential sale of town-owned properties, up from $2.5 million this year.

In response to Joe Scianablo, the Democratic candidate for town supervisor, who attended the board meeting and asked for specifics on the revenue, town Comptroller John Mastromarino said it is a combination of "seven or eight different line items" including the sale of property.

Town Attorney John Maccarone said the town could sell 15 to 20 pieces of property next year, including the Capri Motor Inn, which the town bought last year for $9 million. The town board approved issuing bonds to purchase the property.

"The Capri ... was a blight to the community, and we're going to be going out for requests for proposals with regard to that," Maccarone said.

Hempstead also is in contract to sell a property in Elmont for more than $1 million, he added. Another undisclosed property was recently appraised for "around $1 million," and the town is in contract to sell property in Wantagh along train tracks for close to $600,000, Maccarone said at last week's meeting. The town is in litigation in a case "similar to the Capri and we estimate that will be millions and millions of dollars of sales," Maccarone said. Mastromarino said the town plans to use $30.4 million in reserves to help balance the budget.

Scianablo, who is challenging Republican Ferretti in the supervisor race, criticized the use of reserves.

"We're using and utilizing reserves for nonemergency operational costs for the town — that doesn't concern anybody here?" Scianablo said.

Mastromarino said, "The alternative is to raise taxes. Is that what you want?"

Scianablo said no but that if the town does not rely on recurring revenue sources to balance the budget, "we're setting ourselves up for failure."

Ferretti said "a budget is simply a projection" and that conservative budgeting means that the projected use of reserves doesn’t mean that reserves will ultimately be used.

Last year, Moody’s Ratings warned the town could lose its Aaa rating if it failed to balance its budget with recurring revenue or expenditure reductions, or if it continued to use debt to fund noncapital expenditures.