For Some Town Employees Salaries Are Going Up Well Beyond 3 Percent

What’s In Your Wallet? 

Most people don’t have a clue what is in a town’s tentative budget.  Most people aren’t paying attention because they are busy working and struggling to survive, especially during these very difficult times. But if people were paying attention they might be asking how the Town Board could be raising taxes and giving raises in excess of $840,000. They might ask why 40 positions are getting raises of over 10 percent. And they might ask, how can you do this to us? Click Here 

Town Salaries Are Going Up And So Are Your Taxes

What’s In Your Wallet? 

Most people don’t have a clue what is in a town’s tentative budget.  Most people aren’t paying attention because they are busy working and struggling to survive, especially during these very difficult times. But if people were paying attention they might be asking how the Town Board could be raising taxes and giving raises in excess of $840,000. They might ask why 40 positions are getting raises of over 10 percent. And they might ask, how can you do this to us?

In the Supervisor’s budget message he notes that the tentative budget avoids layoffs of personnel and does not cut services.  “It should be noted that a large portion of the increase includes $1.8 million which is attributable to pension and hospitalization costs. Increased fuel costs also is a factor.” No mention of raises.

According to preliminary number crunching here are some startling numbers:

• 40 people are scheduled to receive a 10 percent or higher salary increase. 
• 10 people will see their salary’s grow by better than or equal to 6 percent 
• 108 will see an increase of greater than 5 percent.  

These increases go way beyond the 0 - 3 percent salary increase many employees will see and what we have heard about.

Here are some items from the tentative budget, Appendix E Salaries:

• The Town’s tentative budget includes a 34 percent increase for one Assistant Town Attorney and a 19.7 percent increase for a second Assistant Town Attorney. 
• A 10.7 percent increase was granted to the Town Attorney when he was hired in 2012 but is not reflected in the 2012 adopted budget. 
• The Comptrollers office has three people scheduled to receive increases of 10 -10.6 percent. 
• Account 1340, Stipends  will rise by 67 percent. 
• Town Parks – Account 1620 – four positions will be increased by 10.3-11.6 percent. 
• All members of the Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals will receive 10 percent increases. 
• This list is a sampling of departments and is not exclusive.

What are they thinking?  Maybe they are thinking that no one is paying attention. Or maybe they are thinking that repeating the phrase “I am a fiscal conservative” over and over will give them credibility.  While the Town Supervisor prepares the budget, Town Council members review and may challenge the tentative budget. The sound of silence from the board members has been deafening and speaks volumes about their lack of understanding of just how hard times are for so many residents.  

Don’t take my word for it, check out the 2013 Tentative Budget, Appendix E Salaries, it is about 12 pages long.  Capital One Asks “What’s in Your Wallet” you don’t have to look far - it is the Smithtown Town Board. 

Pat

Smithtown’s Ellen McCulloch Lawrence Collects 966 lbs. Of Food For LI Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Smithtown resident Ellen Lawrence wanted to help the people on Long Island who are suffering from Hurricane Sandy. Ellen contacted Island Harvest in Hauppauge and volunteered to collect food from shoppers at Stop N Shop in Smithtown. With a sense of urgency she arranged, almost overnight, to stand outside the store on Monday, November 5 from 1-5pm.  Shoppers responded to the woman standing outside in the cold giving her time to help others. The people of Smithtown responded in a big way! When all was said and done 966 pounds of food and cash was donated to Island Harvest to help Long Islanders.

Commack Resident Burned After Filling Up Generator

Suffolk County Police responded to a Commack home after a resident suffered burns when her clothing caught fire this morning.

A 40-year-old female resident of Elder Drive, whose home is without power, went outside to fill up her generator with gas and inadvertently spilled some on her clothing and the outside of the gas can. The woman went inside to clean up when gasoline vapors emanating from the can were ignited by a nearby candle. The woman’s clothes caught fire and she suffered burns to her arms and back. She was transported with non-life-threatening injuries to Stony Brook Hospital by the Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corp.

The Commack Fire Department extinguished the fire. Arson detectives have investigated the incident and determined the cause to be accidental.

Hurricane Sandy Goes Through The Roof At Park View School

The Kings Park School District is accustomed to overcoming challenges. Every school budget cycle is a reminder of how small a district it is and how precious every tax dollar is. Capitol expenditures are carefully planned and budgeted for with an eye on what is absolutely necessary. The district’s new challenge was delivered by Hurricane Sandy early Monday evening when its winds took the roof off Park View School. 

According to Kings Park School Superintendent Dr.Susan Agruso the wind didn’t blow the roof off, it peeled it off.  The difference between blown away and peeled is insignificant because the roof has to be replaced and the K-3 students at Park View are to be displaced immediately. 

The school district has two K-3, schools Robert J. Osgood ( RJO) and Park View. With  damage at Park View the district faced several challenges, where to house the displaced students and how to get the message out to families with children attending the school when a hurricane took out the power, phone and email capability? 

It turns out that in this particular district getting the message out was no problem. A meeting for Park View parents was to be held on Thursday afternoon at the High School, which due to Hurricane Sandy, had no power. The district set the meeting for 4pm when there would still be natural light and set up a generator to do the presentation. They counted on phone calls,  signs posted in local businesses and at the fire department and word of mouth to get the message to the Park View School families that there would be a meeting.  It worked and according to Dr. Agruso, almost seven hundred people showed up, most without power in their own homes, to hear what the School Board had to say.

According to Dr. Agruso , after being alerted to the Park View School roof situation, the engineering firm H2M was contacted and brought in a contractor who is already working with the district’s insurance provider.  The cost of the roof is estimated to be over $1 million. The district, which has a five thousand dollar deductible on its insurance, expects insurance to cover most costs and FEMA to pick up the remaining expenses. Dr. Agruso is hopeful that the new roof will not end up costing the district anything.

The challenge of where to put the students will be dealt with by placing the third graders in RJO and the K-2 in the District’s Administrative Building on Lawrence Ave. The students will have the same teachers, bus stops and activities except for those in the Administrative Bldg. where there is no kitchen or lunch facility.  In a “back to the future” moment, students will bring their own lunch or paper bag lunches will be provided.

Items that could be salvaged from Park View were being cleaned and brought over to the Admin. Building. Some items suffered water damage and need to be replaced.  On Friday members of the custodial staff were busy cleaning and moving items and were being assisted by some members of the community who have volunteered to help. 

The district is hoping to have the roof project completed sometime in December with students back in their school in December or January. According to Dr. Agruso, parents were satisfied with the proposed plan for the students. With the roof crisis under control, Dr. Agruso can now turn her attention to  power beng returned to the district’s buildings and getting the kids back to school.