This year has not been a typical year. Every news publication and television broadcast talks about the budget constraints, layoffs and the distressed economy. This is a national, state and very much a local issue. Add to this financial downturn Mother Nature’s wrath on our local beaches and storm water management infrastructure coupled with our struggles with repowering our LIPA/Grid plant – you have the perfect storm in Port Jefferson.

Managing a municipal budget of 8.7 million dollars requires knowledge about revenue sources and expenditures, tax rolls and assessed valuations, state mandated programs and employee related costs. It requires balancing quality of life issues while preserving capital projects to ensure environmental and infrastructure safeguards remain in place and upgrades are funded moving forward. It requires cuts in departments where duplication of manpower can be managed and streamlined, asking employees to give back while going the extra mile. It sometimes requires layoffs in order to control the spiraling costs of federal and state mandated health and retirement benefits.

Grieving taxes has become a fashionable and prudent method for property owners to curtail the rising costs of property tax increases. This year, the Village lost over $1, 371,009.00 in assessed valuation due in large part from the 10% decrease in LIPA’s assessment as well as several in residential and large commercial grievances. This reduction in assessed valuation across the board results in the loss of approximately $291,460.00 of tax revenue across the board – or 10% of the revenue from the resident and commercial tax payer base. In addition to losing the income, the Village also had to pay back taxes costing us over $63,000.00 in returns.

State mandated costs increased in double digits and vital ambulance service costs increased this year over $300,000.00. Before we could blink – we are $654,000.00 in the red. Watershed management programs have to funded, as well as road repair and beach restoration – another $417,000.00. I think you get the picture.

But we did all that and then some – we cut over $1,500,000.00 from spending and overhead to keep the budget to a 5.7% increase – or $472,549.00. We took critical steps towards a program to continue to fund our capital projects while preparing for next year’s potential decline in assessed valuation – knowing this year our negotiated reduction of 10% with LIPA was a homerun. We begin union contract negotiations next month with the hope of retaining as much staff as possible as we remain committed to maintaining our quality of life and preserving our beautiful village. I look forward to continuing our hard work together for the common goal of making Port Jefferson a destination for a day – or a lifetime.