Mayor wants E. Hampton tax rate unchanged

The tax rate in East Hampton village will remain unchanged this year under a proposed budget presented Thursday by Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr.

The tentative $18,287,216 budget is less than 1 percent higher than the current one, and includes an increase in non-tax revenue of 2 percent, or $145,631. Still, the village proposes trimming $400,000 in spending — more than half of which would come from its police and public works departments — to balance a required $531,750 increase in contributions to the state retirement system.

The village tax rate is $25.97 per $1,000 of assessed value.