Riverhead supervisor’s budget calls for 1.4 percent overall spending increase, 4.08 percent tax rate hike

Riverhead Town’s tax rate will increase 4.08 percent under the $54.3 million town spending plan Supervisor Sean Walter has proposed for fiscal year 2016. (Scroll down to view budget, below.)

The tax rate would increase to $51.029 per $1,000 of assessed valuation under the supervisor’s proposal. That’s up $2 per thousand over last year’s town tax rate. The rate includes the town general fund, highway fund and street-lighting fund, but not special district taxes such as water district and garbage taxes, which are additional.

An “average” single-family home with an assessed value of $50,000 (an assessed value that translates into about $350,000, Walter said) would have a town tax hike (excluding special district taxes) of about $100 in the coming tax year.

When special district and other separate funds are taken into account, overall spending in Walter’s 2016 tentative budget tops $92.7 million, up 1.4 percent from $91.5 million in overall spending this year.

The tentative budget calls for a 5.06 percent tax levy increase, requiring the town to pierce the state-mandated cap on the town property tax levy.

The so-called tax cap, passed by the State Legislature in 2011, limits the property tax levy increase to 2 percent over the previous year’s tax levy or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. The tax levy cap for 2016, adjusted downward to reflect the rate of inflation, is 0.73 percent — but Riverhead’s 2016 cap is 2.06 percent because of an increase in the town’s total assessed value, according to the supervisor.

Walter said his tentative budget does not relay on appropriated fund balance from the general fund to make ends meet.

“It’s a sound, responsible budget. And as of now, it is the town board’s budget,” he said, taking a swipe at a board that’s voted to adopt a budget only once in the last five years, in 2013. (It held one other budget vote, in 2010, but the budget resolution failed, 4-1.)

By law, the supervisor’s tentative budget becomes the preliminary budget as is, unless changed by the town board. The preliminary budget, in turn, becomes the adopted budget by default if the town board fails to pass a resolution approving a budget on or before the Nov. 20 deadline imposed by state law.

Walter will give a presentation on his budget to the town board and the public tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in the Town Hall meeting room.

For an explanation of the budget process and budget terms, see our Budget 101 primer.

Riverhead Town 2016 Tentative Budget