The North Hempstead Town Board postponed a vote to approve its budget Tuesday night after Council Member Robert Troiano proposed a budget change that he said would decrease taxes by $5 million.
The proposed $5 million tax cut, which Troiano estimated to be about a 20% reduction, would be made possible through use of $6 million of the town’s general fund reserves.
“It’s just a rainy day fund,” Troiano said of the general fund reserves. “But it’s your [taxpayers’] rainy day fund and the town is holding onto it.”
The town proposed a $98 million budget for 2025, a 6.6% year-to-year increase, with taxes set to remain the same. Last year, the board approved its 2024 budget with a 10% tax cut.
Troiano said he had been uncomfortable with the 2025 budget but did not understand why until early Tuesday morning. He acknowledged that this was poor timing as the budget faced a vote just hours later.
He called the budget “anti-taxpayer” as it cut funds from town resources and did not provide any tax cuts despite what he called a large general fund reserve.
“All I see in this season, this election season, are commercials about inflation is too high, home prices are too high, rent is too damn high and taxes are too high,” Troiano said. “We need to give something to our taxpayers. We just can’t take away from this and that’s what this [budget} does.”
He said the proposed decreases in the 2025 budget included $1 million from tree removals, $1 million from sidewalk repairs, $2 million from road repaving and $2.5 million in tax cuts.
Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said the decreases are not actually reducing the budget but represent the absence of one-time transfers that had been moved to these budget areas last year. She said they were not re-instated.
Troiano pointed to the general fund reserve, which is an accumulation of leftover revenue funds that can be used at a later time.
He cited DeSena’s words from a 2021 budget hearing, in which she condemned the $26 million reserves at that time and called them “grossly overfunded.” The general fund reserves are projected to be at $25 million at the end of 2025.
Troiano’s proposed tax cut would bring the general fund reserved down $20 million, about 20% of the budget expenses, which he said is still deemed safe.
He said it is only required that the general fund reserve be at 10% of the town’s projected expenses. He said with the $98 million general fund budget proposed, only about $9 million in reserves would be needed.
Deputy Supervisor Joseph Scalero confirmed that a 20% reserve fund is safe, but that the percentage is contingent on the budgeted expenses which grow every year and therefore diminish the percentage if the reserve does not grow with it.
DeSena said it is wise to keep a healthy reserve to cover unexpected expenses.
Troiano said residents face similar issues of unexpected expenses that a tax cut would help them with as well.
Troiano also asked why the budget adjustments he submitted Monday, which he argued were before the 24-hour deadline before the meeting, had not been added to the budget.
Town Attorney Richard Nicolello said his office had not received them until the afternoon before the meeting.
The board ultimately opted to table a vote and to determine whether or not Troiano’s numbers were correct and what budget options they had.
Despite the delay in voting on the town’s budget, the board did approve the assessment rolls for the Belgrave, Great Neck and Port Washington water pollution control districts.
The Town Board will convene again on Nov. 12.
