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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget Hearings SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD BUDGET HEARINGS November 9, 2016 4:00 PM & 7:00 PM Present: Supervisor Scott Russell Justice Louisa Evans Councilman William Ruland Councilwoman Jill Doherty Councilman Jim Dinizio, Jr. Councilman Bob Ghosio, Jr. Deputy Town Clerk Lynda Rudder Town Attorney Bill Duffy 4:00 Budget Hearing This hearing was opened at 4:00 PM SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: There's actually a copy of the budget outside, there's quite a bit of information on there. It's not the most readable format, it's the best we can do but certainly we are here to answer any questions that you might have and listen to any comments you might make. COUNCILMAN GHOSIO: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Preliminary Budget and Preliminary Capital Budget of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York for the fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2017 has been prepared and approved by the Southold Town Board and filed in the Office of the Town Clerk at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York, where they are available for inspection and where copies may be obtained by any interested person during business hours. FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Town Board of the Town of Southold will meet and review said 2017 Preliminary Budget and 2017 Preliminary Capital Budget and hold a public hearing thereon at the Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, New York, in said Town at 4:00 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, November 9, 2016, and at such hearing any persons may be heard in favor of or against the 2017 Preliminary Budget and 2017 Preliminary Capital Budget as compiled, or for or against any item or items therein contained. FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to Section 108 of the Town Law, the following are proposed yearly salaries of members of the Town Board, the Town Clerk and the Superintendent of Highways: Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 2 SCHEDULE OF SALARIES FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS (ARTICLE 8 OF TOWN LAW) Officer Supervisor $ 106,506 Members of the Town Board (4) @ $ 35,078 Town Justice and Member of the Town Board, Fishers Island $ 53,492 Town Justices (2) @ $ 71,755 Town Clerk $ 102,624 Superintendent of Highways $ 106,506 Tax Receiver $ 40,041 Assessors (3) @ $ 76,707 Trustees (5) @ $ 19,371 SUMMARY OF TOWN BUDGET 2016 PRELIMINARY Appropriations Less: Less: and Provisions Estimated Unexpended Amount to be Code Fund for Other Uses Revenues Balance Raised by Tax A General $ 30,591,587 $ 4,562,808 $ 2,500,000 $ 23,528,779 B General-Outside 2,287,486 1,491,058 590,000 206,428 Village DB Highway Fund 5,942,010.44 443,580 250,000 5,248,430 CD Community 49,165 49,165 - - Development CM Community Pres. 12,711,500 6,507,500 6,204,000 - Fund CS Risk Retention Fund 542,000 542,000 - - Total-Town $ 52,123,748 $ 13,596,111 $ 9,544,000 $ 28,983,637 DB 1 Orient Rd Improve. $ 3,190 $ - $ 440 $ ' 2,750 Dist SF E-W Fire Protect. Dist 759,191 285 6,000 752,906 SM Fishers Island Ferry 4,080,900 3,000,250 276,772 803,878 Dist SR Solid Waste Manage. 4,138,507.00 1,902,700 250,000 1,985,807 Dist SSI Southold Wastewater - - 17,155 (17,155) Dist SS2 Fishers Island Sewer 31,500 31,500 - - Dist Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 3 F.I. Waste Manage. 614,871 52,150 - 562,721 Dist Orient Mosquito 88,430 - - 88,430 District Subtotal-Special Districts $ 9,716,589 $ 4,986,885 $ 550,367 $ 4,179,337 Orient-East Marion $ 54,000 $ 10,000 $ - $ 44,000 Park District Southold Park District 327,726 - - 327,726 Cutchogue-New 140,000 - - 140,000 Suffolk Park Dist. Mattituck Park 535,756 34,435 80,930 420,391 District Subtotal-Park Districts $ 1,057,482 $ 44,435 $ 80,930 $ 932,117 Fishers Island Fire $ - $ - $ - $ - District Orient Fire District - - - - East Marion Fire 599,337 89,928 - 509,409 District Southold Fire District 1,896,950 24,190 - 1,872,760 Cutchogue Fire 1,389,650 1,000 - 1,388,650 District Mattituck Fire District 1,904,854 - - 1,904,854 Subtotal-Fire Districts $ 5,790,791 $ 115,118 $ - $ 5,675,673 Total-All Districts $ 16,564,862 $ 5,146,438 $ 631,297 $ 10,787,127 Grand Totals This Pae $ 68,688,610.00 $18,742,549.00 $10,175,297.00 $39,770,764.00 I do have a copy of that, this has been posted on the Town Clerk's bulletin board and the Town's website. I do have an affidavit that this was also advertised in the Suffolk Times. That's all I have. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Would anyone like to address the Town Board on this particular hearing? Comments, questions? (No response) Okay, what I will do is just quickly run over some information for everybody here and certainly for anybody at home. The proposed tax increase is 7.63%. That is for the average home about $135 in new taxes. It would be less for people who qualify for a seniors exemption or veteran's exemption. Although that savings would vary depending on what you qualify for. Anything else? COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: I would just like to add that it includes about a 75% increase in Highway funds, they are re-doing a lot of roads and hopefully, that will be an ongoing thing for the next five or six years. Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 4 COUNCILMAN RULAND: Well, certainly Mr. Supervisor, I would say to you that this budget, I have been here nine years and this budget seems to have been a lot more difficult to come to some conclusions about the proper funding for the different categories because it seemed like there was a never-ending supply of increasing costs beyond our control. I think that everybody is aware of the state of the health care system in our country and the Town of Southold is not immune to anything that had to do with its healthcare program even though it's a statewide program that we're a member of. The increase in costs was such that that alone had us increase the levy beyond the tax cap. I also think that our town which many people quickly point to as the last of a lot of things on the north fork, has done what needs to be done to keep our town fiscally healthy and we talked about that before especially the maintenance of a proper fund balance. We have a stellar bond rating and that is important because those savings, which you don't see unless the town borrows money and we borrow a lot of money, equates to substantial savings over time that it is our job no doubt about it that we are to look at those things and determine the value of whether it be refinancing bonds that we have or controlling and reviewing all the spending that we do, the budget that we have does not include a whole lot of new stuff. We are trying to maintain, as Jim said, our roads which is a difficult task and it is going to go on into the future, there's no question about that but I think that we have the ability now to develop a longer term plan based on costs that we know of for our current year that we project for the next year and then those issues will allow us, especially the Supervisor who is the Chief Financial Officer of the town, to develop a long term multi-year budgeting process with regard to highway resurfacing. It is easy to talk about and it's hard to make come to fruition. That's a long way to say, Mr. Supervisor, that I appreciate your efforts in developing this budget and there's been a great deal of angst and heartburn, I appreciate the efforts of the Town Comptroller in helping us deal with the angst and heartburn that comes with so many of these issues that some of them are monumental in scope and yet they are not big compared to others, I sit here as one of six. The weight that's on your shoulders to make a decision to provide for the needs of the all the residents of the town and I would stress all because many people do not come to our meetings, many people only come when there's a crisis and the rest of the time they are expecting us to do the right thing. And that's a long way of saying that I think this budget is a really good indication that we are on the right track and we are going in the right direction. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Would anybody else like to address the Town Board on this? Questions or comments? Board members? (No response) This hearing was recessed at 4:08 PM until the 7:00 PM Budget Hearing This hearing was re-opened for the 7:00 PM Budget Hearing at 7:00 PM SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: This is a continuation of a hearing that we started today, with regard to people that want to comment on the budget that is proposed. We have copies outside. I know that there is quite a bit of information, I am happy to answer any questions you might have and certainly listen to any comments you have. Would anybody like to address the Board? Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 5 MARYLOU PALMER: Marylou Palmer, 85 Mesrobian Drive Laurel. I guess I have my own budget which I have to adhere to and I know how much I have to make to, I guess, pay my bills, to pay my taxes. And I guess I am concerned I guess because we all pay heavy taxes and it just seems that we are putting out a lot of money that maybe should be readdressed. And I am not an accountant, I look at those numbers and I said, wow. You are talking about highway repairs, Laurel Lane has been blacktopped many times and they keep doing it and doing it and doing it and I feel that why is that happening? Shouldn't it be done right? And maybe if we do more things right, we won't have to redo them. I guess I am just upset because I am a widow, I am working two jobs to keep my house. I live on the water, I pay my taxes, we don't get dredged, we haven't gotten dredged in three years and I guess it's just time to just come down and say something, maybe I am in the wrong audience but I am talking for myself, I am talking for my neighbors, I don't understand, I just don't understand. If you take all the families and all the families that are paying taxes and all that money, I don't understand what the deficit is. I move from Peter to pay Paul, sometimes I have to do that, sometimes I can't eat what I want to eat because I have to pay a bill. So if I eat spaghetti for three nights but I pay my bills. I don't understand but maybe you can help me understand. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Sure. MS. PALMER: Why an increase of 7 percent? Do you know what that's going to do to my budget? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: The average increase would be about$135 per home. MS. PALMER: Alright, well, it's still a bill that I could be paying. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I would agree. MS. PALMER: One hundred dollars to me is a lot of money. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Laurel Lane, is that the one that runs up by the Laurel Post Office? MS. PALMER: Schmitt's farm. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Okay, that's actually the Town of Riverhead, so that would be for them to address with regard to paving. But you see Peconic Bay Boulevard was just done, I know you live, Mesrobian is right off that. MS. PALMER: Right. Right. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: There are roads in Southold Town that are in far worse shape than that was and they need to be done and I want to mention, we are not actually in a deficit. The budget is sound and its whole, the increase was the result of adding new spending. Largely, to get the roads done because of the decimation we have seen because of a couple of bad winters. And then of course, there was a substantial increase in medical costs. Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 6 MS. PALMER: Alright, like I said, I can only talk for myself. I didn't even know that was Riverhead, but again, too, they should do it right first. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Understood. Thank you. KATHLEEN KNAPP: Kathleen Knapp, 2260 Peconic Bay Boulevard. I too am a widow. What's happening to the senior citizens and being able to pay these crazy taxes and we are not getting what we are paying for? Brushes Creek has not been dredged in how many years? We can't get our boats out? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: This is outside the scope of the budget hearing but since you are here, I would like to at least give you the chance to talk about it. I think Jill has an answer. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: The Suffolk County makes up the list of dredging. Southold Town Trustees give the county, when I was a Trustee we used to call it the wish list, we give them a list of the creeks that need to be dredged in this town and then the county dredges in all the eastern towns. So not every creek gets dredged every year. MS. KNAPP: Or every three years. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Or every few years. So it's kind of out of the town's h ands. We push it as much as we can and I suggest that you call the Trustees office.... MS. KNAPP: We have. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: And just keep doing that and then they will hopefully push the county. I know we had to do that, it took several years and they finally came and dredged it and Suffolk County does that list. MS. KNAPP: May I interject? I had called and they told me the town doesn't make the decision, so I went to another, I can't even remember at this point because I was so mad and they said no, what happens is that they start on the south side and then they woik their way around which is unfair. We pay as much taxes as the rich people on the south side but every year they start on the south side and then we are told oh,the dredge broke, oh, we can't do it. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: If you want, after, I can discuss details about all that, because as Scott said, it's outside of the scope of the budget. But I can explain more of how it works. MS. KNAPP: I appreciate it. Well, are you going to take into consideration all the seniors that the 7.6 % is going to affect? Young people are not coming in because they can't afford the taxes. Old people, not old, the senior citizens have to make adjustments or move or god forbid, move in with their children. None of you would like that. COUNCILMAN GHOSIO: Actually, my father lives with me. MS. KNAPP: God bless you. You are lucky you have him. Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 7 SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Look, I agree and every year, we are very tight with the budget and we keep the increases to a minimum. We have had no problems complying with the tax cap year after year, we even come in below the cap but what happens is, these unique set of circumstances, two winters that absolutely decimated the infrastructure. And I get the calls, I have to tell you, there was a time where deer where the number one issue, then helicopters were. Now it's the condition of the roads. The public's calling me constantly, we are getting letters, we are getting emails, fix these roads. That's new spending and that's why we have to raise the taxes. We had no choice, if we were going to get the roads done. MS. KNAPP: Has that vote been put in, is that gospel now? That 7.6 or are you looking to raise it? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: The 7.63 is what's proposed. MS. KNAPP: So it's not voted on yet? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: No, this would have to be a vote of this board on November 15. Tonight's the public hearing, so we take in public comment and the board considers or reconsiders any aspect of the budget they want. MS. KNAPP: So I can look at all your faces and I know how you are going to vote. Okay, thank you. PATRICIA CATO: My name is Patricia Cato, I live on Crown Land Lane in Cutchogue. I am also a widow. What are you going to give me with this increase? I work full-time, so I just about get home, I raced home to come here. You have the meeting after daylight savings time, I wear glasses, I don't like to come out at night, fortunately, my son brought me here. I called at lunchtime to make sure it was here. Having this increase, you are forcing the baby boomers which I am and the millennium group which is my son's group, out of here because they are not going to be able to stay. Fortunately, my son lives with me, so he can help me because he can't afford his own apartment, so he is living with me. And he is living with me so we can keep the house for future generations. What do I get? I have to pay for the garbage permit, the beach permit and I am paying for everything and I have to watch my budget. What are you going to help us with? And I am a senior. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: One thing I do want to re-emphasize, the actually increase of the 7.63, if it is adopted, isn't an increase on the whole tax bill, it's just on the town portion which would work out to be about$135 per home. MS. CATO: I know but if I didn't have my son to help me and I am working full-time, it's hard. I mean, I have to make sure my car is taken care of and everything that has it, so I can stay. So it's hard. COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: It's tough. I mean, I am in a house by myself as well and I am in the same situation, I have to work four jobs and it's hard. It's hard to live here and this Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 8 budget, Scott and our comptroller have done a wonderful job in holding line on almost every item. And we have the medical expenses that go up, we don't have a choice with that, we have to pay them. And just with that alone, if we didn't do any, if we take out the budget of the million that we proposed for the roads, we would still be raising taxes. It's very difficult and we have tried to keep it down as much as we can. MS. CATO: But it's really hard, what if my son decides to live, what do I do? COUNCILMAN GHOSIO: These are important points that are made, of course, it's never, at least for me, it's never easy. When we start talking about the prospect of raising taxes as high as we may have to this year, I know that there have been budgets passed in the past that were in double digits in terms of how much the budget would be increased and I know that in the past several years, this Town Board as long as I have been on it and I believe prior to my being on the board, has had a great eye and done everything that they could to keep taxes down. In fact, I pride myself on being a fiscal conservative, so this doesn't make me happy either but that being said, I will tell you and I know everybody here went through the budget line by line and got into many debates with folks in Town Hall and department heads in the different departments in our town government in trying to pare off as much as possible and there are some unhappy people. Unfortunately, this is a year and that we are seeing it not only in the public sector, your town government, but also in the private sector, we are dealing with increases on health care and insurance that defy imagination. Increases that I have never seen before in my career. And on a municipal level, it's occurring as well. Unfortunately, having an infrastructure we have to take care of as well, I think that leads to some of the concerns that we have and some of the money that's been budgeted in that raise of 7.6 percent. I am not saying that I necessarily believe that we need to go that high but it remains to be seen and I appreciate your points, I just wanted to let you know that the Board scrutinized every line. MS. PALMER: Can I just say one other thing? I mean, we have the STAR program, things like that, is there any way that there could be a one-time exemption for this for the senior, for somebody like myself who is over 75 and working two jobs, making minimum amount to pay my bills. Is there any way that we can initiate some kind of process where there would be an exemption? SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: The exemptions that are available are defined by New York State, there is a senior citizens exemption, 65 and over to qualify. And there's an income threshold, you know, the less you make the more you save. The problem is real property taxes are governed by New York State Real Property Tax Law and we don't have the legal jurisdiction to create what we would call in-house or in-town exemptions. We wouldn't be able to do that as a matter of law. And I know that this is very difficult, I really do. MS. PALMER: It's, you know, maybe make it 6 percent, rather than 7.whatever. I am just speaking for myself and that lady and my neighbor. You know, getting older is not all it's cracked up to be, I am sorry. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: We, also have a safety issue. The roads aren't, it's not a convenience, it's a safety issue. If we let these roads get any worse, we can probably have some Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 9 expensive costs down the road with people who aren't happy with them and god forbid something happens. There's a real safety component to this as well, we have obligations here. MS. PALMER: No, I see both sides of the coin but you know, there are wealthier people that maybe could afford a little bit more but I know that you are governed by rules and regulations but if we didn't speak up, you wouldn't know what we are facing. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I am glad that you did actually. JOE CATO: Joe Cato, Cutchogue. I am just kind of interested to see why maybe $3,000,000 is being allocated towards the roads? It just seems that with this increase, a lot is going towards the medical costs but not a lot is going towards the infrastructure. It's definitely really difficult to live out here, I am fortunate enough to stay here with my mom, to defray some of the costs but it's definitely going to be harder and harder to live out here and the reality is, people my age can't even afford to buy a house. So if we are going to increase taxes, maybe we can increase infrastructure and not just manicure some of the preexisting infrastructure because really want to try to generate more towards dollars to kind of slow down the amount of tax hikes that we have to push because right now, last year it was 3 %, this year 7 %. What's it going to be next year? or the year after that. I just don't know if it has to be so drastic. I know that you guys have done a good job of analyzing the budget and realizing that it is hard for people to live out here but at the end of the day, it's a really, really farfetched reality of being able to own a home out here and that's a scary reality, especially growing up out here. I just think that there's hopefully some time that you guys can really look at the budget closely and think about what's going to happen with resurfacing the roads. We've had some bad winters but if we are going to repave few roads, what's that really going to do with $44 million when less than $4 million is going towards the infrastructure costs? I know that a lot of it is covering employee costs but there just doesn't seem like there's that same amount of transparency that needs to exist, I know that maybe it's invasive to know what the health coverage is of these employees but are we really choosing the lowest cost one to provide the tax breaks to the people that live here? I just really hope that we can try to lower this number, I know that it's only $135 but still that's a lot when you think of the cost of living here and I know because I lived on the other side of the country but I love it here. I am trying to do something with the wine industry which is why I struggle to stay out here but we really do need to look at this number and maybe we can bring it down just a little bit more. I mean, 7.6 % looks pretty drastic when you look at what the percentage hike was last year. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: you are right about the infrastructure 100 %. The need to invest in the infrastructure, you are 100 percent right. The infrastructure of this town needs to be updated to handle what it just wasn't designed to do with regard to the traffic and everything. And that should take a three party effort which would be New York State, Suffolk County and Southold Town. You are 100 percent right. MR. CATO: Alright. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Thanks. Would anyone else like to comment on the budget? Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 10 COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Well, I would just like to say that as far as the roads are concerned, yes, we had, we have been trying to grapple, I have been anyway, of how, what the process is, has been, in preparing our roads. And I found that we were using a lesser grade of topping, if that's what you want to call it and that, the amount of time that you got out of that was minimal compared to what we are proposing now which is about a 20 year surface. The other was a 6 or 7, the stuff you just kind of pour down on the road and it dries. And you know, certainly I grappled with that. I just think that roads are here to stay, they have been here, we intend to have them into the future. We need to have a process every year to ensure that that 20 year span just continues which hasn't happened and basically what we have been spending is about$250,000 to $300,000 a year on roads but you were getting 2 percent increases. You know, they weren't just 2 percent, they were staying under the cap. We are breaking the cap this year because we are going to put $1,000,000 in there instead of$300,000. Okay? That's going to give us a better quality road and now we have, we are working on a schedule of you know, which roads are good, which are bad. The information that we got two weeks ago, in my mind is only the beginning of how we have to work on this because you know, it has to be a process and everybody has to know that every year these things are going to get done and they are going to continue to get done and when the Town Board has to commit to it, I am committing to a seven year kind of thing, what we propose now is four years but we talked about bonding these, this stuff and that's not good. It will lower your rate but in the end it's still going to raise it, you are borrowing money to pay for something that you are supposed to have, that we are supposed to be supplying. It's like the lady said, you can cut back. You can eat spaghetti but if you eat spaghetti all your life,that's not good for you. And the same here, you know, you can't just keep putting down the junk and keep going back with junk. You have to start committing to roads that are good, paint that's good on it, it will, in the end, help us down the road. Yes, you spend more money but we have been dealing with a police station, a small dispatch room that's 24/7 there's somebody in that room and that room needs to be updated. We are lucky this year we got some money to put that in, $300,000 and some odd dollars. The ergonomic chairs, the whole nine yards, it's going to be a very nice radio system. We had an incident right here, this year, right before me with a cop that could have been very serious and part of that was the radios, so we are investing in that this year, too. That's another expense. But can we leave our police officers out there, knowing that we have problems with one of the most important pieces of equipment that they have, i.e. pressing a button and calling for help? No, I can't, I am faced with that, I can't do it. That's why we are raising this money. I know it's a lot, I think if you cut back on what you cut back on, there's things in that budget that I don't like, that I don't think we need but it's all a compromise. You know, different people have different things. I met with every department head. Okay, and some of those discussions were uncomfortable to say the least but I think that in my mind, I settled that I have to compromise too, I can't get everything I want. It would be less but it wouldn't be less because I am taking money out of the road or out of the radios. I am not going to do that. We need that stuff. Thank you. MR. CATO: I just want to address a few things. But that doesn't actually talk about the minimal percentage of that increase going towards the roads. It's only maybe $3,000,000. I guess one of my concerns and I think that the infrastructure needs to change and I do feel bad that the police are operating out of old headquarters and it's.below standards, I know that needs to change too and that's one of the things that's really being addressed in this budget, so that's going to have to be addressed in another budget, so that's going to be another increase that's Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 11 going to happen down the road. And I think that that does need to happen but what we are talking about is this budget and we are talking about the $3,000,000 I believe, I think it's like $2,400,000, like 2 and change that's actually going towards the roads. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: No, sir, that's not true. The amount of money we are putting towards'the material is what the raise is, okay, and it's $1,000,000. MR. CATO: I think that that's great that you guys are increasing the quality of the roads and the material, so we don't have to put these costs into it later on, I think that's the right direction to go but I think that what is the series of roads that's going to be addressed, what's going to be the transparency in this? I guess my concern is on my way here tonight, I hit a few pot holes on my road, is my road going to be counted as one of the roads that's deemed necessary to repave? How are you going to prioritize what roads need to be repaved? COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Well, that's again, we received a list two weeks ago, okay? I am not in any way satisfied that that list is something that we can work off of. That's a very, very preliminary as far as I am concerned, it just helps me to learn how the process works because I am not in road repair. That's the highway superintendent. I looked at what he suggested, I am talking about the highway superintendent, and you know, I am going to ask more questions and firm that up this year and next year have a better idea, a better.plan that will be worked on the year after that and the year after that to the point where it's just taking pushpins and moving them on a map at some point in time, but it has to start somewhere. We can't keep just putting the minimal amount on our roads to keep under a cap that you know, the roads are just going to crumble underneath you. MR. CATO: I completely agree with you, I don't think that's really addressing the bulk of the budget that is the medical costs and I just think if there could be some transparency, understanding the health coverage that's carried, are they really the lowest cost option? So the taxpayers aren't having to pay for any excesses. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Well, two years ago we went to a different carrier. We saved a lot of money. MR. CATO: And that's what we like to see. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: But now that carrier, okay, and along with some laws that have come into play, that cost increase is about $300,000. And you know, under contracts with our two unions, we have to supply an amount of insurance... COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY: Standard. COUNCILMAN DINIZIO: Standardized for them. It's not something you can, we can try another carrier but we just did it two years ago. MR. CATO: I got you. I understand. Thank you. Southold Town Board 2017 Budget Hearings November 9, 2016 page 12 SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Actually, you asked some very good questions and usually I have a budget seminar every year I come here and I present the budget and try to talk about all those different issues. We didn't have it this year because I am basically here Wednesday nights anyway for open hours, so I referred people to those hours but those questions are 100 percent correct. Medical is a good example. We actually used to be self-insured and we had concerns about the long term risk particularly with the affordable care act, I am not drawing judgements, I am just saying the fiscal reality. So we rolled over to the state's NYSHIP, what they call the Empire plan. It was the cheapest and probably still is but it really is costly, so what this town has done, what this board has done is said look, we can't carry this burden any longer, the employees are going to have to carry some of the burden. So we did stand firm with one of the unions and we got a 5 percent contribution. We are in the process now, negotiating hoping to get more. We stood firm on the hiring of 8 police officers which was big news at one point. The reason we did that was we needed to basically, we couldn't hire under the old contract because we wouldn't have gotten any medical contribution, now that the issue was forced to an arbitrator, we actually got 15 percent on new hires. That savings isn't immediate but with the turnover of new employees, over the course of a couple of years, you are going to see more and more contributing to that. And we are still looking for contributions. That's probably the best way we can mitigate those increases. But you are right, regarding whether it's the fairest or not, the most affordable, you are 100 percent correct and I would love to explain that stuff to the public, all the time. MR. CATO: Well, we appreciate it. Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Would anyone else like to address the Town Board? (No response) This hearing was closed at 7:27 PM Lyn a M. Rudder Deputy Town Clerk