The North Hempstead Town Council was scheduled to vote on Thursday on a 2016 budget that stays within the state’s .73 percent tax cap.
But with 37,668 residences in incorporated villages and 32,549 residences outside the villages, as well as 43 special districts divided between those governed by the town and others governed by a board of commissioners, getting to the tax cap gets a little complicated.
“It’s a challenge. They keep talking about it being a 2 percent tax cap, but for the town it’s not a 2 percent tax cap, it’s a .73% tax cap,” North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said. “Whenever Cuomo talks about the tax cap, he talks about the 2 percent tax cap, so people in their minds think it’s a 2 percent tax cap. But in fact, based on some formula, the determination was .73.”
The Town of North Hempstead budget reflects these distinctions through four separate budgets that fund the different areas within the town: the General Fund, the Town outside Village Fund, Town Operated Special Districts, and Commissioner Operated Special Districts.
The budget includes a $67.1 million General Fund and a $35.1 million Town outside Village Fund.
The General Fund covers residents across the town’s incorporated villages and contains revenues and expenses for departments that serve residents both within incorporated villages and unincorporated areas.
The Town outside Village Fund accounts for those who live or own property outside the borders of the town’s incorporated villages and goes towards departments that handle road maintenance, snow plowing, code enforcement, building safety and inspection, and community planning.
The $67.1 million for the General Fund represents an increase of $1,080,000 in spending over 2015’s $66.02 million. The General Fund calls for $24.9 million of the $67.1 million in spending to be raised by taxes — up from 2015’s $24.75 million.
The Town outside Village Fund calls for $35.2 million in spending, an increase of $305,221 over 2015.
Of the $35.2 million, $27.1 million will be raised by taxes, an increase of $196,234 over 2015.
Bosworth said for residents living in incorporated villages, the General Fund Budget represents a $5.71 a year increase for the average household and for residents living in the unincorporated areas of the Town, the Town outside Village Budget represents an additional $15.69 a year for the average household.
The 43 special districts in the town are comprised of 20 operated by the town and 23 with independently elected governing boards.
The 20 town operated special districts include fire protection districts in Albertson, Carle Place, Floral Park, Glenwood, Great Neck, Port Washington, and Roslyn, garbage districts in Albertson-Searingtown-Herricks, Great Neck, Manhasset, New Cassel, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park, and Floral Park Centre, the lighting district, park districts in Harbor Hills, Manhasset Bay, Clinton G. Martin, and Levitt Park at Roslyn Heights, Port Washington Public Parking, the Sidewalk District, and the Great Neck Water District.
The budget includes $24 million for the 20 town-operated special districts.
Aline Khatchadourian, the town’s deputy supervisor and finance director, said the town-operated special districts work like “interlocking pieces of the puzzle,” meaning if one district’s budget increases, another district’s budget needs to decrease in order to remain under the tax cap.
The tax cap limits a local government’s overall growth in the property tax levy to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, according to the New York State official website.
The 23 commissioner-operated districts include the Port Washington Business Improvement District, fire districts in Garden City Park, Manhasset-Lakeville, New Hyde Park, and Westbury, garbage districts in Carle Place, Glenwood, Port Washington, and Roslyn, the Shelter Rock and Gold Coast library districts, the Carle Place Library Funding District, park districts in Great Neck and Manhasset, the Port Washington Police District, the Belgrave, Great Neck, and Port Washington Water Pollution Control Districts, and water districts in Albertson, Carle Place, Garden City Park, Glenwood, Manhasset-Lakeville, Port Washington, Roslyn, and Westbury.
Each special district with independently elected governing boards has its own budget, subject to approval by the Town Council, and can surpass the .73% tax cap.
Bosworth said she “made a commitment to not pierce the tax cap” and did not expect any major changes from the preliminary budget that was reviewed on Oct. 20 and the final budget that will be voted on.
*For a chart of each district’s budget, visit our website at islandnow.net.
