No tax hikes in new Oyster Bay Town budget

Town taxes in Oyster Bay will not increase in 2012, as per the $262-million town budget passed at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Supervisor John Venditto and the town council approved the budget for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, with a unanimous 7-0 vote in favor of the general budget and a 5-0 vote (councilmen Chris J. Coschignano and Joseph G. Pinto abstaining) for the budgets for special improvement districts.

The town budget seeks to add $3 million to the town’s depleted cash reserves through increased user fees and overtime cuts.

A drop in cash reserves from $20.3 million in 2005 to $375,000 last year led Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services to lower the town’s bond rating in June.

The Public Safety Department budget for 2012 is $4,572,000, up 0.8 percent from $4,535,000.

The 2012 town budget totals $262,464,593, an increase of 7.6 percent over the current year.