Islip budget pierces tax cap, includes hikes for 8 Fire Island communities for beach projects
Erosion seen at Davis Park on Fire Island in October 2023. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Eight Fire Island communities will pay additional Islip Town taxes to finance beach renourishment projects, as the town pierced its tax cap for the first time since 2017.
The revenue will bolster fund balances held by the eight erosion control districts on Fire Island. The tax increase varies by district, ranging on average from an $88 increase per household in Lonelyville to an $815 increase per household in Atlantique, town officials said. Taxes on the average home in the town will rise by about $90, a 6.5% increase, officials said.
The tax hike is driven by an increase in salaries, pensions and health premiums, the first debt service to renovate the Byron Lake Park pool, combined with a drop in mortgage tax revenue, Comptroller Joseph Ludwig said at a recent board meeting. The board voted unanimously to pierce the tax cap on Oct. 22.
The board approved the 2025 budget on Nov. 7 by a vote of 4-0. Supervisor Angie Carpenter abstained.
“This has been one of the more brutal budgets we’ve had to deal with because we’ve had a lot of things fighting against us,” Ludwig said before the vote. The town pierced the tax cap, “because unfortunately there were things that we just could not afford within those confines.”
Ludwig pointed to the rising cost of living as a key factor behind the raise in employee salaries. The town needs to increase salaries to compete with other municipalities and improve retention, he said.
Elected officials will see a 2.5% salary increase to keep pace with the cost of living.
Moody's Investors Service recently reaffirmed the town's AAA rating, which is the highest a municipality can earn. The rating, which Islip has maintained since 2016, is for those "judged to be of the highest quality, with minimal credit risk," according to the credit rating system.
Residents in eight Fire Island communities will pay an additional tax bump to “build up a healthier fund balance” to address future storm damage, Carpenter said. The communities are, in essence, “saving for a rainy day," she said.
The districts have asked for increases over the years, but "nothing to this extent," town spokeswoman Caroline Smith said.
The tax initiative is not connected with the villages of Ocean Beach and Saltaire, which both fall within Islip Town boundaries. The tax hikes are included in the town's 2025 budget.
Fire Island residents and officials have expressed concern about beach erosion, spurred by a spate of damaging storms, especially as climate change accelerates.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a $52 million project in August that includes offshore dredging to restore shorelines along the barrier island from Seaview to Davis Park. The federally funded contract, state representatives said, will repair damage from storms last year to large sections of beach berm and dunes that are part of the Fire Island Inlet to Moriches Inlet project.
Beaches bolstered under the Fire Island to Montauk Point and Fire Island to Moriches Inlet projects "are not eligible for FEMA disaster-assistance funding," Army Corps spokesman James D'Ambrosio said.
In the future, the Army Corps will cover half the costs of beach renourishment under FIMP, he said. The state Department of Environmental Conservation and the municipality will split the other half costs.
A spokeswoman for FEMA confirmed that beaches reengineered under the Army Corps Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, which includes Fire Island beaches renourished under FIMP, fall under the agency’s purview — meaning “FEMA cannot provide funding for that work.”
The federal disaster response agency will otherwise continue to fund "eligible sand replacement projects" elsewhere on Long Island and support "communities impacted by coastal erosion as a result of a presidentially declared disaster," FEMA spokeswoman Kate Macedo said.
That’s among the reasons why individual Fire Island hamlets decided to start “stockpiling” funds in reserve, Fire Island Association president Suzy Goldhirsch said, so expenditures for future projects are “easier to bear” when they happen.
“The consensus of the community leaders were, ‘It's better to boost the reserve fund now than have to have a tremendous amount either taxed at the time of use or bonded,' ” Seaview Association president Tom Ruskin said.
Eight Fire Island communities will pay additional Islip Town taxes to finance beach renourishment projects, as the town pierced its tax cap for the first time since 2017.
The revenue will bolster fund balances held by the eight erosion control districts on Fire Island. The tax increase varies by district, ranging on average from an $88 increase per household in Lonelyville to an $815 increase per household in Atlantique, town officials said. Taxes on the average home in the town will rise by about $90, a 6.5% increase, officials said.
The tax hike is driven by an increase in salaries, pensions and health premiums, the first debt service to renovate the Byron Lake Park pool, combined with a drop in mortgage tax revenue, Comptroller Joseph Ludwig said at a recent board meeting. The board voted unanimously to pierce the tax cap on Oct. 22.
The board approved the 2025 budget on Nov. 7 by a vote of 4-0. Supervisor Angie Carpenter abstained.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Town of Islip has voted to pierce its tax cap for the first time since 2017. Taxes on the average home will rise by about $90, up 6.5% from last year.
- The budget includes additional tax hikes for eight Fire Island communities that want to use the funds to address future storm damage.
- Moody's Investors Service also recently reaffirmed Islip's AAA credit rating, which is the highest a municipality can earn.
“This has been one of the more brutal budgets we’ve had to deal with because we’ve had a lot of things fighting against us,” Ludwig said before the vote. The town pierced the tax cap, “because unfortunately there were things that we just could not afford within those confines.”
Ludwig pointed to the rising cost of living as a key factor behind the raise in employee salaries. The town needs to increase salaries to compete with other municipalities and improve retention, he said.
Elected officials will see a 2.5% salary increase to keep pace with the cost of living.
Moody's Investors Service recently reaffirmed the town's AAA rating, which is the highest a municipality can earn. The rating, which Islip has maintained since 2016, is for those "judged to be of the highest quality, with minimal credit risk," according to the credit rating system.
Residents in eight Fire Island communities will pay an additional tax bump to “build up a healthier fund balance” to address future storm damage, Carpenter said. The communities are, in essence, “saving for a rainy day," she said.
The districts have asked for increases over the years, but "nothing to this extent," town spokeswoman Caroline Smith said.
The tax initiative is not connected with the villages of Ocean Beach and Saltaire, which both fall within Islip Town boundaries. The tax hikes are included in the town's 2025 budget.
Fire Island residents and officials have expressed concern about beach erosion, spurred by a spate of damaging storms, especially as climate change accelerates.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a $52 million project in August that includes offshore dredging to restore shorelines along the barrier island from Seaview to Davis Park. The federally funded contract, state representatives said, will repair damage from storms last year to large sections of beach berm and dunes that are part of the Fire Island Inlet to Moriches Inlet project.
Beaches bolstered under the Fire Island to Montauk Point and Fire Island to Moriches Inlet projects "are not eligible for FEMA disaster-assistance funding," Army Corps spokesman James D'Ambrosio said.
In the future, the Army Corps will cover half the costs of beach renourishment under FIMP, he said. The state Department of Environmental Conservation and the municipality will split the other half costs.
A spokeswoman for FEMA confirmed that beaches reengineered under the Army Corps Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, which includes Fire Island beaches renourished under FIMP, fall under the agency’s purview — meaning “FEMA cannot provide funding for that work.”
The federal disaster response agency will otherwise continue to fund "eligible sand replacement projects" elsewhere on Long Island and support "communities impacted by coastal erosion as a result of a presidentially declared disaster," FEMA spokeswoman Kate Macedo said.
That’s among the reasons why individual Fire Island hamlets decided to start “stockpiling” funds in reserve, Fire Island Association president Suzy Goldhirsch said, so expenditures for future projects are “easier to bear” when they happen.
“The consensus of the community leaders were, ‘It's better to boost the reserve fund now than have to have a tremendous amount either taxed at the time of use or bonded,' ” Seaview Association president Tom Ruskin said.
Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
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