Southold 2027 budget keeps levy under tax cap, trims board salaries

Southold officials agreed on a revised preliminary budget that stays below the tax cap after six hours of closed-door wrangling, resulting in lower 2027 salaries for Supervisor Al Krupski and other board members.

The plan, released Wednesday, totals $65,862,169, down $74,569 from the tentative budget. It calls for a $46,216,547 tax levy, just $431 more than the earlier proposal, and a combined town tax rate of $407.833 per $1,000 of assessed value, up 7 cents. Tax bills will vary by location and assessment because residents pay different combinations of town, highway, solid-waste and outside-village taxes.

The revised budget sets Mr. Krupski’s 2027 salary at $129,502, down from $132,092 in the tentative plan. Salaries for four local Town Board members are set at $44,370 each, a decrease of $887 apiece. The pay for the Fishers Island Town Justice/Town Board member position, currently held by Kate Stevens, fell by $1,317, to $65,838.

At Tuesday morning’s work session, comptroller Michelle Nickonovitz said about $150,000 in additions had pushed the tentative budget over the tax cap. Mr. Krupski said most of those added costs were personnel related. The board later discussed personnel items in executive session, which is closed to the public.

“If the Town Board were to add these items without additional concessions, it would cause the budget to go over the tax cap,” Ms. Nickonovitz added.

Mr. Krupski had said he was committed to staying under the cap as the board reviewed the tentative plan over several sessions since releasing the initial budget earlier this month, The Suffolk Times reported last week.

“I think the non-personnel revisions we made were reasonable,” Councilwoman Anne Smith said. “I’m willing to go back to them after the personnel discussions because that’s our greatest resource of people who work here, that makes the town run, plus available to the community.”

Total appropriations in the revised plan are 2.68% higher than the adopted 2026 budget, compared with a 2.79% increase in the tentative plan, The Suffolk Times previously reported. The adopted 2026 budget was about $64.15 million.

The revised budget projects $14,595,622 in revenue, $75,000 less than the tentative plan. In the solid-waste district, appropriations fell by $2,000 and estimated revenue fell by $65,000. The amount raised through property taxes increased by $63,000, to $2.11 million.

The preliminary capital plan lists $3.77 million in 2027 projects, about $767,000 more than the tentative plan. The projects include $720,000 for road resurfacing, $750,000 for a Fishers Island highway facility, $250,000 for sidewalk restoration, $250,000 for stormwater mitigation and $130,000 for a compost-site storage building. It also lists two police department SAFE Boat purchases totaling $800,000.

A public hearing on the preliminary budget is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4, from 4 to 5 p.m. The board’s regular meeting that evening, from 6 to 7 p.m., will also include a budget hearing.