The Hempstead Town Board unanimously adopted a $435.5 million budget for 2021 last week, headlined by a freeze in total taxes and an $11.4 million decrease in expenses.
Town officials said Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin challenged department heads to cut spending while continuing to provide services for residents. The $11.4 million in expense cuts is a 2.5 percent decrease from 2020 projections, according to officials.
Officials said the adopted budget put a freeze on the town’s total property tax levy at $253.1 million, the same amount as in the town’s 2020 financial document.
“It is incumbent on government to lead by example at all times, but especially as families struggle during difficult economic periods like the current Coronavirus pandemic, which was so abrupt and unexpected,” Clavin said. “This 2021 spending plan demonstrates fiscal responsibility that respects taxpayers as the town will freeze the total property tax burden borne by residents.”
Clavin said the services that the town provides accounts for only a small fraction of each resident’s tax bill. The town receives roughly eight cents of every tax dollar each resident pays. The town, Clavin said, receives only two cents per dollar for residents of incorporated villages.
“By freezing total town taxes, we are doing our part to ensure that the taxpayers are not on the hook for mandated and unanticipated expenses,” Clavin said. “Instead we are utilizing smart budgeting practices within our management and operations, incorporating all available revenue sources and remaining fiscally sound.”
Town Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby touted the work of Clavin and other town officials to adopt a budget that maintains fiscal responsibility, freezing taxes for residents, and continues to provide services despite difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“So many residents are reeling from the Coronavirus pandemic from an economic and public health perspective, and this tax-freeze 2021 budget demonstrates how the Town of Hempstead continues to deliver quality services at the lowest cost while providing the community with the assistance it needs during the most difficult of times,” Goosby said.
The town also received $133 million in federal aid due to the pandemic, the only town in America whose population qualified it for federal money. With the funds, the town was able to establish pop-up food banks, offer free personal protective equipment kits, grant funds to hospitals and local villages, and to local colleges to reopen safely, and provide comprehensive coronavirus testing and education programs through Northwell Health.
“Other governments are in fiscal free fall due to the impacts of the pandemic as well as a failure to budget conservatively and build adequate budgetary reserves as a bulwark against financial crises like this pandemic,” Clavin said. “Our government has worked hard to ensure that there is no increase in the total taxes levied by the Town of Hempstead in 2021.”
The Town Board partnered with the CSEA Local 880, a union that represents the town’s workforce, to enact a retirement incentive program that officials said will save the town $6 million in salaries and benefits. The town currently employs nearly 1,800 people, a decrease of 37 people, or 2 percent, from the 2020 budgeted personnel count.
Clavin cut the budget for his own office on his first day in office in January, reducing costs by $1 million. The town was also able to refinance some of its debt, which will save taxpayers an estimated $750,000.
“Adopting this 2021 budget shows respect for our taxpayers by maintaining taxes at 2020 levels, cutting expenses and still providing residents with the top-notch services that they expect from America’s largest township,” Councilman Tom Muscarella said. “The teamwork and dedication of Supervisor Don Clavin and the entire Town Board led to this fiscally responsible budget that preserves the life-enhancing programs and services that all residents always deserve.”
