Town of North Hempstead adopts $156.6 million 2022 budget

Robert Pelaez
The Town of North Hempstead adopted a $156.6 million budget on Thursday night. (Photo by Robert Pelaez)

The Town of North Hempstead adopted a $156.6 million budget for 2022 that includes no service cuts and remains below the state’s tax cap on Thursday.

The budget, which was adopted during a special meeting on Thursday night, includes a general fund tax levy increase of more than $760,000, or 2.92 percent, from the 2021 adopted budget – going from $26,047,300 to $26,808,627. The increase results in an average of $9.70 per household, according to town officials.

In the town’s $88.5 million general fund, $40.2 million is allocated to the outside village fund, which covers services for residents who live outside incorporated villages, and $28 million for town-operated special districts. The Town Outside Village Fund tax levy increased by 2.3 percent, an average of $19.21 per household, officials said.

“The Town’s 2022 budget is indicative of the fiscally conservative practices of my administration,” North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in a statement. “We have worked to ensure that the Town continues to deliver essential services for our residents,” said Supervisor Bosworth. “I am grateful to our Comptroller Tania Orenstein and her staff for presenting this fair and responsible spending plan for our Town.”

The total tentative budget is an increase of more than $18 million from the current budget, with most of the increases coming as a result of $18.2 million in revenues and expenditures from the Solid Waste Management Authority.

In late September, the Town Board voted 7-0 to approve terminating the authority in order to consolidate costs and save taxpayers money. Without including the consolidation funds, the budget increases by $500,000 to $138.6 million.

The coronavirus pandemic, she said, brought a variety of challenges and obstacles the town was forced to adapt to and overcome since March 2020, but she touted the work of her administration and other town officials for coming up with a budget that remains below the state’s tax cap.

“I’m so grateful to the entire North Hempstead team, especially our department heads, for their thorough and efficient work over the last year and a half,” Bosworth said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has placed many constraints on the Town of North Hempstead, both financially and operationally. My administration’s ability to continue to work effectively within the confines of such an unprecedented crisis has undoubtedly made a difference for everybody.”

Despite the pandemic, the town was able to maintain its AAA bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service, the highest rating a municipality can obtain.

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