Riverhead's proposed $63.2M budget for 2023 sees tax increase of 3.31%

Riverhead Town’s $63.2 million budget for the 2023 fiscal year calls for a tax increase of 3.31%, or 1.31% above the 2% state tax cap, which town officials said would help boost hiring of more police officers.

If approved, the budget, a nearly 5% increase from the $60.3 million budget approved last year, would pay for the hiring of seven new police officers to the Riverhead Police Department. The budget would also allocate $514,000 for necessary operating equipment for public safety and add five public safety dispatchers, including one dedicated as an EMS dispatcher. 

The tentative budget would not cut any services, staff or programs, but would levy an annual increase of about $86 to the average Riverhead home. The tax hike is across the town’s general, highway and street lighting funds.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said that forecasting the budget for the 2023 fiscal year was made complex due to unknowns from the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs for commodities, supplies and maintenance resulting from unstable economic times.

“I am confident this budget funds the most critical town projects and provides the staffing support needed to maintain the services important to the community and vital to town operations,” Aguiar said.

Salaries for the town supervisor and four town council positions, will remain the same at $115,148 and $48,955, respectively. Wages for the two town justice positions would increase 5%, from $84,571 to $88,800. The highway superintendent’s 2022 salary of $94,803 would increase by 4.9% to $99,543. The salary for the two assessor positions and the tax receiver would increase 4.9%, from $83,846 to $88,038, while the assessor chair position would also see a 4.9% increase, from $96,549 to $101,376.

The budget drew no objections during a public hearing at the board's Nov. 1 meeting. The budget will remain open for written comment, which can be sent to the town clerk’s office until Nov. 14.