Residents Challenge Raises in Southold Town's 2011 Budget

At a preliminary Southold Town 2011 budget hearing Thursday afternoon, residents called the Southold Town Board member's policy of approving their own raises a conflict of interest.

will raise taxes by 1.84 percent in order to fund projects such as a $500,000 village green near Love Lane in Mattituck. The proposed budget also includes funds for a $200,000 payloader and $284,000 for a diagnostic computer for the highway department.

Proposed annual salaries include $90,472 for Supervisor Scott Russell, $31,270 for four Town Board members, and $49,048 for Louisa Evans, a Town Board member who is also the Town Justice on Fishers Island.

But Supervisor Russell and the rest of the Town Board said at the hearing that they were considering slashing the 4 percent raises, which are included in the draft budget, for everyone.

Superintendent of Highways Peter Harris, who will make $99,061 if the raise is included, said that after last year's record-setting snows and the ensuing round-the-clock work, he deserved a raise.

"When we have snow storms, I'm there," he said. "I'm not sitting in front of a TV in an easy chair. I'm out on the road or in the office, driving snow plows when we are short-handed. I don't feel this is selfish."

Russell said that the way the Town Board handles Town salaries and raises should be revisited.

"We really need to revisit the issue in an all or nothing approach," he said. "We can't give some raises and hold others."

Councilman Al Krupski stood up for Harris, saying that the last few years have been particularly tough for the highway department, which is down 10 men in two years.

"It's hard to look at the big picture in every department after years of no raises," Krupski said.

Russell said that he reasoned that this year was the time to budget raises because "Southold's fiscal house is in order."

"At the proposed 1.84 rate, we thought this would be the time to keep these salaries in pace," the supervisor said. "But the public outcry is that, due to the economic state in general, this is not the budget to include raises."

Cutchogue resident Benja Schwartz said that no matter what, the fact that the Town Board negotiates for the taxpayers and themselves is a clear conflict of interest.

"Any budget is inherently conflictual, because the Town Board sets the salaries for town workers and the elected officials," Supervisor Russell said. "Every single budget will have that quagmire."

Mattituck resident Marie Domenici was the only other speaker at the 4 p.m. budget hearing — and she was concerned about that.

"There are 10 people in the audience, four of which are town employees, two of which are media people — so that means there are only four people representing the taxpayers," she said. "And you know, I could pay these town taxes on unemployment, because 70 percent of my taxes go to school taxes. It's disturbing that people won't come here and understand the dynamics."

According to the draft budget, Town funds such as the community preservation fund and Town employee health plan will cost $44,280,822 in 2011. Special districts in the Town such as the Fishers Island ferry district and the Orient road improvement district will cost $8,643,219. Park districts will cost $1,058,193, and the Town's six fire districts will cost $4,758,342 to maintain.

Revenue for the Town is down $7,391,992 in 2011 from $7,508,687 in 2010 due to a community block grant that has not yet been calculated, Russell said.

The budget must be approved by Nov. 20.