Smithtown Officials Hold Public Hearing on Proposed 2014 Town Budget

Residents have the chance to voice any questions or concerns on the Town of Smithtown's proposed 2014 budget on Thursday night. 

Smithtown Town Board will be holding a public hearing on the proposed $104.3 million budget for 2014 at 7 p.m. Thursday, in place of a regular monthly town board meeting. 

The proposed $104.3 million budget for 2014 represents a $700,000 increase over the current 2013 budget. It would come in under New York State's property tax cap by $2.3 million.

If approved, Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said homeowners would see their town taxes cut by $13.12 for a house assessed at $5,5000 if the 2014 budget is approved. 

"However you look at the budget, there's a decrease in taxes to the average homeowner and given the state of the economy that is a remarkable achievement," Vecchio said. 

These tax cuts will be possible, in large part, due to the town's budgeting for 2013. Smithtown Comptroller Louis Necroto said the town put aside nearly $11 million for expected health care insurance costs in 2013, but is anticipated to come up at $10.3 million. The $700,000 additional will be applied towards 2014 budget. 

The town will also find significant savings by eliminating jobs through attrition of staff as 5 high-level staff members have left or retired this year: a director in Public Safety Department at roughly  $115,000; one staff in Engineering; two staff in Parks & Recreation Department with salaries at roughly $250,000, and one employee in Highway Safety.  Vecchio said the town will not be filling all of these positions. 

Necroto has also predict the town's mortgage tax revenue will continue to increase into 2014, up from $4.2 million predicted in 2013 to $5 million in 2014. 

Despite these savings and increased revenue, the supervisor still proposes using $2.75 million of the town's reserve funds to apply to its general funds to help keep taxes down. This is less than $3 million in reserves used to keep the 2013 budget in check and does not pose a fiscal issue, according to Vecchio. 

The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. in the Eugene A. Cannataro Senior Citizen Center, 420 Middle Country Road, Smithtown.