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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-11/01/2022 Budget Hearing 1 COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK TOWN OF SOUTHOLD -------------------------------------------------- TOWN OF SOUTHOLD BUDGET HEARING MEETING -------------------------------------------------- Southold, New York November 1 , 2022 4 : 00 P . M . B E F 0 R E : SCOTT A . RUSSELL, SUPERVISOR LOUISA P . EVANS , JUSTICE JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN BRIAN 0 . MEALY, COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN SARAH E . NAPPA, COUNCILWOMAN November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 2 PUBLIC COMMENTS SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : The 4 : 00 o ' clock meeting, is a meeting dedicated to the Southold Town Budget for community review and ultimate adoption by the Town Board . So I am going to ask at this point, if anybody would like to address the Town Board on the proposed budget for 2023 ? MS . CATHY DEMEROTO : Good afternoon . It ' s good to be back . I don ' t usually read, but I am going to read today . I am Cathy Demeroto, Executive Director of CAST, Center for Advocacy Support and Transformation . And I am here today to comment on the preliminary 2021 Southold Town Budget ; however, first and foremost , on behalf of CAST, and the community members that we serve, I want to recognize all of the members , including the Town, as we served unprecedented numbers of Southold Town residents in need on the frontline ' s of the pandemic . And then moved to our new home in the heart of November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 3 Southold Town to better serve the community . To be clear, the number of people we ' re serving has not declined since the height of the COVID crisis . Instead, we ' re experiencing a continuous increase in demand for our essential services . As you review the Town Budget , I respectfully request that the Town Board seriously consider providing a $ 100 , 000 in direct support to CAST as the Town relies on CAST to provide critical important services to its constituents . Funding from local government will directly benefit individuals and families in our community who could not live and work in Southold Town without the support of CAST . On the heels of the COVID health and economic crisis , we are experiencing another economic crisis with inflation at a 40 year high . We are all feeling the rising costs of food, fuel , housing and other necessities . It ' s imperative to acknowledge the disproportionate impact on lower wage workers and seniors November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 4 on a fixed income . So many of our neighbors struggling to make ends meet and turning to CAST for help . We are very concerned as we approach the winter months when people are working few months due to the seasonal nature of our business and agricultural community . At the same time, these families need to put oil in their tanks to heat their homes . With Winter right around the corner and the heat increasing daily, CAST is out of Federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program Funds for food, as well as , rent and mortgage assistance . And we do not know when the next round of funding will be approved and released . Our expenses will exceed our approved operating budget in 2022 due to the ever increasing need and high food costs . In short, we need support from the Town as we work to provide essential human services during this challenging time . According to the 2020-2021 New York State Education Department data, 750 of children in Greenport Union Free November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 5 School District 38 % in Southold Union Free School District and 30o in Mattituck/Cutchogue Union Free School District are economically disadvantaged . No child in our community should go hungry . And CAST makes sure that families are able to put food on the table, keep their lights on and heat their homes , as well as , providing resources and advocacy and numerous educational workforce training opportunities to increase economic security and improve overall family well being . On October 20th, we even held a free community health at the Peconic Bay Recreational Center, providing food, personal care items , information, resources and work stops from over 20 health providers , which was attended by more than 150 members of Southold Town residents . As of today, CAST is serving 910 unique families . Consisting of 2 , 265 individuals , which is about 100 of the population of Southold Town . This includes 864 children and 124 seniors , November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 6 65 and older . Since our move to Southold on November lst , we have had 335 new families come to CAST for help, with about 30 new registered households . Most of our clients are hardworking members of our community who contribute so much to our local economy . Notably, we expect to serve more 340 , 000 meals in 2022 . For perspective pre-COVID, we provided 40 , 000 to 45 , 000 meals per year . In 2020 , we provided 198 , 120 meals . In 2021 , we provided 244 , 410 meals . Through October 2022 , we have already provided 304 , 000 meals . In addition, in 2022 , we have already helped many families with emergency assistance grants totaling over $ 78 , 000 . Mostly to rent and paid directly to landlords . And we expect that number to continue to climb as we enter the months and families need to heat their homes and pay their rent , when work is limited or not available at all . Notably, pre-COVID, CAST had expended approximately $ 7 , 000 to $ 10 , 000 per year November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 7 on emergency assistance grants . The Town does not provide emergency assistance grants to help families pay for rent, electric or fuel . And in fact, the Town refers residents to CAST when needing help paying these bills . CAST has had to increase our budget and staff significantly in the past year due to the growing need . We now have a total of 21 paid staff, including ( inaudible ) in the past year due to the growing need . We now have a total of 21 paid staff . Including 6 community food staff . 2 full-time and 2 part-time client support services staff and 6 education department staff, as well as , paid part-time volunteer coordinator and a volunteer corp of approximately 200 people to help us provide important programs and services to the community effectively and efficiently . With the growing demand for our services and the high cost of food and other essential products , we expect our operating budget to be $ 1 . 4 million in 2023 . Up from November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 8 about $295 , 000 in 2017 when I started at CAST . And just under $ 1 . 1 million in 2022 . This tremendous increase is due to CAST response in recent crisis and the growing needs of our community . A human has taken on resourcefully and what saves the Town financially and human resources , while keeping residents and many local workers healthy . And housed and the local economy robust . In just recently, the Town of East Hampton provides assistance to outside groups and services arena, which totals $ 677 , 000 in the 2022 budget . Including, $25 , 000 to the Spring ' s Food Pantry . $20 , 000 to the Montauk Food Pantry, which is only open twice a month . CAST distributes food three days a week at CAST . As a Feed the Need Program for breakfast , lunch and snacks when schools are closed in the summer and during the school breaks . Operates a weekly mobile pantry for residents who are homebound and have transportation barriers . Operates a Farm to Friend Program, with November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 9 21 local farmers participating, as well as , a food rescue program. And now CAST has two satellite locations . The Cutchogue New Suffolk Library and Shelter Island . And I want to note that the Shelter Island Lions Club and the Shelter Island Friends of Cast have raised approximately $40 , 000 to support this effort on Shelter Island . Also some other Town ' s have departments that assist with social needs for all residents . In fact, Southampton Town has two paid staff as part of a community advocacy program that provides benefit application and emergency assistance and other services for low income residents . Southold Town does not have paid staff dedicated to assisting all Town residents with the use of essential Town services . The Town Senior Center provides hot lunch meals to seniors to the Pilot for Meals Program and Meals on Wheels , and does have a Suffolk County Department of Aging Advocate to the Senior Center, November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 10 once or twice a month to help seniors only with benefit applications assistance . We applaud the important work of the Senior Center and for proving nutrition to seniors and its partnership assistance with the County to provide benefit application assistance to seniors . However, these senior services do not address the tremendous needs of so many citizens in the Town of Southold . CAST respectfully requests that the Southold Town use current resources available to help ensure that all families in our community are safely housed and food secure . CAST usually receives between $5-$ 9, 000 annually in grants that flow through the Town of Southold . We greatly appreciate being chosen as a beneficiary of these limited CBD funds and hope to continue to receive that much needed funding; however, to address the current economic and housing crisis in Southold Town, we are requesting $ 100 , 000 in new funding for our food November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 11 relief program and our client support program, which uses emergency assistance for rent, mortgage , food and heating oil . This funding request is consistent with the 2020 Southold Town Comprehensive Plan, specifically, Chapter 11 , Human Services . Objective 6 . 1 . Continue the support of human services that remediate the impact of human poverty and our residents of Southold Town and Greenport Village . Objective 7 . 1 , expand awareness of and access to human services , information and resources . Objective 9 . 1 , provide resources and programs that can benefit underserved populations . Chapter 8 , Housing . Objective 3 . 1 . Provide resources to help residents stay in their homes . Finally, we would like to meet and develop a long term plan to ensure that we ' re together to provide and sustain essential services and meet critical needs in our community for years to come . A community is stronger when all members are thriving . Thank November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 12 you . MS . MARGARET COWDEN : My name is Margaret Cowden . I am a resident of Greenport West . And I am speaking in support of the previous speakers request . I have been aware of CAST ' s important role in our community for several decades now . But having visited CAST several times now, specifically this year and becoming more aware of the wide array of services that they ' re providing to Town residents , I strongly support their request for funding . I think the work that they ' re doing is invaluable . And if approved, this would be some of the most cost effective and results oriented lines in the budget . And as a taxpayer, I want to advocate for approval of their request . Thank you . MR . PETE TREIBER : Peter Treiber from Treiber Farms . Also in Orient . I would just like to express gratitude for Cathy and also the Board . If you all have time , I think you should come down November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 13 to CAST . We ' re open . And see how pumping it is . Watch people get a shopping cart and able to fill their own needs . Whether it be clothing or food or assistance, it ' s a great thing to see . They ' re lined up at the door . You don ' t see it , but it ' s sort of down the street . Down the parking lot there, but I would challenge the Board or welcome the Board and see how it works . And see the vibrancy that we have created in an old opera house . Thank you . MS . MARIA MCBRIDE : Good afternoon . My name is Maria McBride . And my husband and I have lived and owned a house in Southold since 1997 . And I have -- I am on the Board of CAST , and an active member of the community . I have to say that the last couple of years have been incredible for many of us for so many reasons . But the opportunity for me to see on a first hand basis of the work that CAST delivers , the amount of people that step up and roll up their sleeves to November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 14 participate in this , the private donations that have come in . CAST , you know, with their move and everything else, in the past year, they have stepped up to meet the challenge of this increased demand . And I think it ' s time for the Town to step up to the challenge as well . To help our fellow citizens and I request that the Town support this action . Thank you . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Who else would like to address the Town Board? MR . MARC SOKEL : Hello . I am Marc Sokel , a resident of Mattituck in Southold since 2005 . I am the president of the Board of CAST . And as have seen first hand, the growth that of the CAST budget and the growth of the demands since I joined the CAST Board in 2013 , it ' s nearly four times the size of the organization of when I started . It ' s just -- it ' s humbling to see what we have accomplished and what we have done so far . And now is the time for the Town to start supporting CAST in a time November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 15 of what we ' re doing . The fact that we ' re supporting over 100 of the population of Southold with predominantly private donations , I think is remarkable . And I think we don ' t know how long this increase is going to last . The fact that post-pandemic, we ' re still seeing demand increases is truthfully a surprise for all of us . And I just feel that now is the time for the Town to seriously consider their support of both immediately, as requested by Cathy . I think ongoing support for the future probably makes a lot of sense as well . Thank you for your time and thank you for supporting CAST . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Okay . Who else would like to address the Town Board on the Budget? (No Response ) . COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I will make a motion to adjourn until 7 : 00 P . M . tonight . COUNCILWOMAN SARAH NAPPA: Second . November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 16 SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : All in favor? COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye . COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye . COUNCILWOMAN SARAH NAPPA: Aye . COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye . JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye . SUPERVISOR SCOTT RUSSELL : Aye . (Whereupon, the Public Hearing meeting concluded at this time . ) November 1, 2022 Budget Hearing 17 C E R T I F I C A T I O N I , JESSICA DILALLO, a Court Reporter and Notary Public, for and within the State of New York, do hereby certify : THAT the above and foregoing contains a true and correct transcription of the Meeting held on November 1 , 2022 , via videoconference , and were transcribed by me . I further certify that I am not related to any of the parties to this action by blood or by marriage and that I am in no way interested in the outcome of this matter . IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of November, 2022 . /e"'ssica DiLallo