$80.1M budget passed for Southampton Town

Southampton passed a budget Friday that was little different from the one submitted by the town supervisor last month and stays within the mandated tax levy cap of 2 percent.

The $80.1 million budget will have a tax levy of $63.8 million, a 1.2 percent increase. All but a small portion of that will be for special districts in town that raise their own taxes and usually affect only a portion of residents, but must be included in the town’s levy costs.

About $578,000 is specifically for three newly formed erosion districts along the water, where residents agreed to tax themselves in order to shore up sand along their homes. Without those erosion districts, which make up almost all of the increase, as well as smaller increases in fire protection and water districts, the levy would be about $16,000 lower than the 2011 budget.