Official calls tax increase ‘a whopper’

EAST HAMPTON >> The proposed 2017-18 budget was presented to the Town Council on Tuesday and already one counselor has signaled his displeasure with the $44.26 million proposal.

While they did discuss it in general terms, the council took no action on the proposed spending total.

The Board of Finance completed action on the budget Monday night.

The Press incorrectly reported on Tuesday the finance board had eliminated $1.6 million in anticipated lost state aid for education as well as $1.6 million in contin-

gency funding if the town has to assume a portion of the teacher’s pension retirement plan.

The $1.6 million contingency for pension costs was eliminated. But the possible loss of $1.6 million in education cost sharing funds remains in the budget as a revenue shortfall.

Town officials will not know for sure if they will lose the revenue until the General Assembly adopts a budget — which, town councilors were told by state Rep. Melissa Ziobron — may not occur until late summer.

However, the anticipated lost revenue becomes a critical part of a projected millrate increase.

In presenting the budget to the council, Board of Finance Chairman Marc Lambert said the $1.6 million translates into 1.47 of the projected 2.78 tax-mill increase that would be needed to fund the budget.

During a subsequent discussion later in the meeting, Councilor Kevin Reich described the projected 1.47 mill increase as “a whopper.”

However, Reich stressed the increase “is the way it is because of forces outside of our control. Every town like us has the same issue,” he said, adding, “Our challenge right now is dealing with the unknown.”

Councilor Ted Hintz Jr. was more emphatic in his reaction, however. “There is no way I would ever support a 2.78-mill increase to the residents of East Hampton,” Hintz said.

And while Reich suggested finding a way to work around the anticipated shortfall, Hintz favored a more direct response “if we’re getting less money than we need to reduce expenditures,” he said.

His colleague, Councilor Melissa Engel, appeared to side with Hintz. “I have serious concerns, too, about 2.78. That’s too much to give to the people,” Engel said.

“We must be more fiscally responsible,” Engel said, adding, “People need to adjust.”

“We really don’t know what our friends in Hartford are going to do,” Reich said. “Hopefully, we have time to get more information,” Reich said.

Hintz said if the issue was being put on hold to get more information, then he had a solution: “Postpone the (budget) referendum into the new fiscal year,” which starts July 1. If there is no state budget by July 1, Hintz said the council could set an interim mill rate so taxes could be collected as of July 1.

The council would then set the fixed mill rate when the General Assembly acts on the budget.

Responding to Hintz’s call for more cuts to the budget, Reich said, “If you think you’re going to find enough to cut $1.6 million (from the budget), good luck with that.”

Board of Finance member Michael Rose made a similar observation during the board’s budget deliberations on Monday. “There’s not as much fat as one would think in this budget,” Rose said at one point Monday.

Later in the discussion, Rose reiterated that thought, saying, “There are not really a lot of cuts to be made in this budget.”