Murray unveils 2012 Town of Hempstead budget

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray announced the town’s proposed 2012 budget last Friday, heralding it as a spending plan that would freeze taxes at 2011 levels without making cuts in services.

Murray said she is following her mother’s advice to “don’t spend what you don’t have,” and her proposal totals $414.8 million, an increase of $11.8 million — or 2.9 percent — over the current budget. The proposed tax levy is $263.5 million, and the remaining $151.3 million would comprise non-tax revenues and grant money from the state and federal governments, as well as $30 million from the town’s reserves.

“I am pleased that my proposed budget holds the line on all town taxes, particularly during these difficult economic times,” Murray said in a press release. “What’s more, the town’s top-notch Wall Street credit ratings assure residents that the spending plan we have set forth is a sound and sensible financial document.”

According to the town, it used many different means to keep costs down, but no one-shot deals. “We have done a lot of aggressive cost controlling,” said town spokesman Mike Deery. “Our personnel costs are slated to rise only by 1 percent, whereas in the private sector, in the most recent one-year period, they’ve risen by 2.6 percent.”

Deery explained that the town used its high credit ratings to refinance its debt service at lower interest rates. Doing so lowered the town’s debt service payments from $55.2 million in 2010 to $48.9 million for 2012.

“And although we have a nice, robust capital program, we haven’t overextended our debt,” Deery added. “Our debt service is around 11 percent of our budget, whereas in some municipalities it’s more than 20 percent. And that comes back to haunt you.”

The budget includes the proposed expenditures of all of the fire, library and sanitary districts that fall under the Town of Hempstead umbrella.

Town officials pointed out, however, that town taxes still account for a very small percentage of a resident’s tax bill: about 9 percent, on average, whereas county taxes are 18 percent, and school and library taxes are by far the biggest chunk, at 68 percent.

“Some other governments may put taxpayers at risk by engaging in fiscal sleight of hand or budgetary gimmicks,” Murray said. “I won’t do that. That’s why we’ve earned the respect of Wall Street rating agencies and the trust of neighbors on Main Street.”

But the proposed budget is not being lauded by everyone. Gary Port, a West Hempstead resident and Murray’s Democratic challenger in next month’s election, released a statement shortly after the proposal was released, criticizing Murray and the budget.

“Murray says that the town provides top-notch services at the lowest possible cost, but this obviously doesn’t apply to the animal shelter, whose cost is twice that of any shelter of comparable size in the nation,” Port said. “Team Murray’s claim to provide ‘top-notch’ service is not borne out by the pothole-riddled streets, abandoned stores and decaying parks. Under the Murray administration, fees continue to go up. A fee increase is a tax increase. Murray saying she is freezing taxes is like Colonel Sanders saying he is a vegetarian.”