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ToBay's budget passes; spending up 7% When Town Supervisor John Venditto introduced the 2007 Town budget, he said that although taxes may be high, he thinks residents are getting what they pay for. "This Town does its best to make life great here, and yes it costs money to do that," said the Supervisor as he unveiled the Town's $208 million budget. But, I think people know they are getting a bang for their buck and if that means an increase in taxes, within reason, they're okay with that." The Town's financial picture appears to be "okay" in the financial market as well as Oyster Bay has enjoyed an upgrade in its bonding to an AA3 rating with Moody's, while maintaining an A1 rating with Standard & Poors. Morning and evening hearings were held October 17 to allow residents to ask questions and give comments on the $208,957,655 budget for 2007. The current budget is $195,343,135, which means an increase of $13,614,520 or 7 percent. The budget was passed unanimously on October 24, without any changes from what was initially proposed. The additional funds will come from a surplus, according to Town spokesperson Phyllis Barry who added that it would depend on each home's assessment whether taxes will go up or down this year. The 2006 general tax rate was $9.904, while 2007's will be $9.142 per $100 of assessed valuation, a drop of 7.7 percent. "We always get blamed for high taxes but keep in mind that only 11 cents of your tax dollar goes to the Town and Town Special Districts," said Venditto. A breakdown of costs provided by the Town shows that 64 percent of each tax dollar goes to school districts, 20 percent to Nassau County and the remaining five percent goes to independent special districts. The newly adopted spending plan will maintain services at the current level and provides for money to continue upgrading the Towns beaches and parks, a focus of the Venditto administration. New initia- tives on the North Shore, such as the Western Waterfront Development Plan in the Oyster Bay hamlet, are also planned. "We'll reap these benefits for years to come," said Venditto of the improvements. "Generations will be able to use the improved parks and beaches. We need to take the Town out of the dark ages...spending needs to start somewhere," he said. Total costs for the general fund, that includes salaries, insurance and other services, will go from $75,019,961 to $82,376,177 in 2007, a $7,356,216 increase or 9.8 percent. There was a 7 percent increase in 2005. The Town's infrastructure will continue to be improved, causing the highway budget to increase from $32,108,357 in 2006 to $35,711,077, an increase of 11 percent. In 2005, spending went up 7.5 percent. Substantial costs in the budget include an $832,770 increase in the comptroller's department now at $2,820,332. The increase is due to salary increases and the cost of various programs, which will cost $3,653,102 in 2007. Included in that comptrollers budget for the com- ing year are plans to hook every park computer into the Town mainframe to allow access. Additionally, the computer mainframe needs to be moved to higher ground "because Town Hall North is so close to the shore line," explained Robert McEvoy, Finance Director for the Town. The budget for the human resources department also increases from $1,053,321 this year to $1,220,470, which includes raises in salaries, programs and equipment. One of largest increases, though, is for the community services department, which receives a $874,857 raise in 2007, going from $3,770,046 to $4,644,903. This department in- cludes all programs for seniors, youth and cultural arts programs. "The costs have risen because we need to maintain the high level of our programs, which include well-known stars," explained Phyllis Barry, spokesperson for the Town. Although the Town has debt, it is well within acceptable limits according to McEvoy. When a resident asked at the public hearing about increasing debt and whether or not the payback rate will skyrocket, he said the Town follows a debt service schedule so it knows exactly how much it will have to pay. "In 1998 the Town had a $30-million deficit, not unlike Nassau County today. After years of cuts, we are now enjoying our status and if the County were realistic, they would be in a better position too," said the Supervisor.
"The proposed budget is a fiscally responsible plan that provides the level of recurring revenue to keep the Town on sound financial footing. I am comfortable with it," said Venditto who stressed that the budget is a 365-day-a-year process and much hard work goes into the spending plan.
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