Mattituck Park District 2026 budget vote fails

The Mattituck Park District 2026 budget vote, which proposed a 28% tax hike, failed Aug. 21, with 143 votes opposed and 86 votes in favor. 

The proposed budget would have increased the district’s overall budget by $176,300 from last year. A majority of the increases stemmed from proposed capital improvements and maintenance costs to run the district’s nine parks. 

Kevin Byrne, chairman of the district board of commissioners, said those proposed capital improvements, such as playground enhancements and parking lot improvements, won’t be implemented this year. 

“The ramifications for the park district are we’ll have to look for other ways to fund certain projects, and/or delay them, defer them or not do them all together,” he said. 

The district will look to grant funding and tightening bills where it can to supplement parks improvements. 

A second budget proposal is likely to be held in the next several weeks with a lower overall increase, Mr. Byrne said. If that fails to pass, the district could increase its budget by the state mandated tax cap of 2% to support its facilities following a third vote.

This year’s vote results are something Mr. Byrne feels are not representative of the community’s view of the parks. 

“I think there’s more than 80 people in the Mattituck Park District that would like to have these improvements to the park, they just don’t come out and vote,” he said. “And there was certainly some movement and groundswell of people who opposed the budget that certainly got out their vote.”