Babylon proposes town budget with nearly 10% home tax hike

Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer's administration is proposing a nearly 10% tax increase for homeowners in next year's town budget, blaming rising pension and health care costs for the hike. 

Under the nearly $164.5 million proposed budget, residential taxes would increase 9.9%, or about $154 for the average house in the town.

Residents in the town’s three villages, which have separate government departments for some services, would see slightly less of an increase: $129 in Amityville and $104 in the villages of Babylon and Lindenhurst.

The fund with the largest increase under the preliminary budget is the general fund, which would rise by $103 per average home. The next largest increase would be in the residential garbage fund, which would jump $25 per average home under the proposal.

Pension costs are up $1.2 million and health insurance costs are up $2 million, according to Town Comptroller Victoria Marotta, who said expenses are "where the pressure points are."

Minimum wage is increasing for part-time workers, she said, leading to a $750,000 jump overall.

Rising utility bills and expenses connected to a new North Amityville building that houses the town adjudication bureau and Civil Service department also were factors that figured into the 2024 proposed budget, Marotta said.

Administration officials said they decided to use $3.5 million in surplus funds to lower the tax burden — which they said could have been as high as a nearly 12.5% increase for the average home. 

It’s a tactic the town has used in its budgets in the last few years; in 2023 officials applied $4.5 million in surplus and in 2022 they used $3.3 million in surplus.

Schaffer's staff said they tried to stay mindful of the town’s favorable AAA bond rating and keeping reserves at a level that will appease bond raters.

“We’re trying to approach budgeting in a way that all of these outside forces want us to do it,” Schaffer added.

Areas where the town plans increased spending include public safety, with a plan to hire two more park rangers, and mental health services, with a proposal to make two more counselors available to the school districts.

“Those who tell you that they can keep it zero by tapping into reserves and doing all sorts of budget shenanigans are lying to you,” Schaffer said of other municipalities.

He called a tax increase of $12.83 a month for the owner of an average home "reasonable to continue the level of services that we provide from the town.”

The town will hold a public hearing on the budget Nov. 9. If voted in, the proposed budget would pierce the state's 2% tax cap for the third year in a row.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.