Making Ends Meet

Budgeting is the most important task town officials have, and the brand new $134 million budget for 2025 will face a great deal of scrutiny. Taxpayers will note not only that it will pierce the state’s cap on tax levy increases and raise overall spending by 8.7 percent, and require 11 percent more in property tax revenues, but it adds 14 employees and hikes the salaries of those already on the payroll by $1 million. Compensation packages for the town’s 500 employees and retirees already make up more than $93 million of spending.

It’s an acknowledgment that the town has been operating with a staff that is stretched thin and, in many cases, struggling to afford to work for the town, while either being priced out of living here or managing a lengthy commute. It’s also an attempt to address that issue significantly, even if it means drawing ire from taxpayers.

The lone vote against the budget came from Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, which wasn’t enough to stop the supermajority from approving both the tax hike and the spending plan. She specifically took aim at Supervisor Maria Moore’s plan to “address the challenge of retaining current employees and hiring new employees,” as McNamara described it.

She noted that the majority of workers who will receive an additional $3,000 a year already make over $90,000 a year — with flexible schedules and generous benefits, including, as she noted, some who commute in a “taxpayer-funded car, using taxpayer-funded fuel.”

McNamara’s complaint was that the $3,000 boost in salary will not go to union workers — many of whom are “making $50,000 a year, with no work-from-home option due to the nature of their work, commuting in every day on their own time and in their own vehicle.” She added, “These are the employees we are having difficulty hiring and retaining — and this budget does nothing for them.” (She also noted the 4.5 percent hike for Moore and 6.3 percent for all of the other Town Board members.)

On one hand, it’s a valid point: A rising tide must raise all boats for it to be beneficial, and leaving out the union workers on the lower end of the pay scale seems to make the move less effective. But Moore faces new contract negotiations next year with union workers. This supplement for nonunion workers clearly will be precedent that is reflected in those negotiations, and it represents a new starting point for the talks. Moore had to know that — and still she pushed for the short-term impact across most paychecks at Town Hall. For those making ends meet, the ends got a tiny bit closer together, and the unions can expect that to be reflected in a new bottom line, a sort of second phase to the intervention.

Also, it bears comment: At a time when the local food pantries are providing assistance to families with incomes of $40,000 to $50,000 a year, even a high five-figure or low six-figure salary is hardly a sign of wealth in Southampton Town — that extra income is not likely to pay for new fixtures on anybody’s yacht. It will be welcomed by many families who are struggling with soaring costs and limited housing opportunities.

Of course, a budget is all about balance, and the board, which got little public push-back during hearings, will hear about the tax increases when the bills start to come due. Residents also have a right to expect to see a return on the investment, as far as the quality of services provided by the town. Because there is an investment being made — and it will continue, most likely, when union contracts are inked in 2025. The town, like its employees, is facing tough economic realities.