Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer, facing heat over proposed raise, vows to take pay cut instead

After facing fierce criticism from residents over a potential 29% salary increase for Supervisor Rich Schaffer and pay hikes for other elected officials at a proposed budget hearing last week, the Babylon Town Board has reversed course.

Schaffer told Newsday on Wednesday that he will not be making $36,320 more per year as proposed in the 2027 budget and will instead take a pay cut from $123,680 to $120,000.

The town is also removing salary increases for other elected officials that had been part of the budget, Schaffer said. Those included a 13.3% increase for Tax Receiver Jennifer Montiglio’s salary to $140,000; a 9.7% increase for Town Clerk Janina Martinez, also to $140,000; and a 4.8% increase for the four town council members to a collective $315,000 salary.

The move comes after more than three dozen residents angrily spoke out about the salary hikes and nearly 6% tax increase being proposed by the town during a public hearing last week. Schaffer and the town also have gotten calls, emails and texts from upset residents since the hearing, he said.

“Message received,” he told Newsday. “The thing I appreciate most about the residents who I’ve served for many years is that they are always very direct and clear as to what they want.”

Many at the hearing lambasted Schaffer and the board for proposing the spikes in pay — which they said eclipsed their own annual salary increases — during a time when residents are struggling with an economy where food and gas prices have risen sharply.

“The timing was poor,” Schaffer acknowledged to Newsday. “I believe that I as the leader have to not only take action to correct that but also show that I understand the concerns that have been expressed.”

At times, the angry comments at the hearing turned personal, with residents mentioning probes by the FBI and state Attorney General's Office into possible misconduct by Schaffer during his bid to hold onto his chairmanship of the Suffolk County Democratic Committee in September.

According to information provided by the town, the removal of the pay hikes plus Schaffer’s salary reduction results in an $83,662 savings in the $218.3 million preliminary budget. The average resident not living in a village will now see a $113 increase in taxes, as opposed to the $114 previously stated by officials.

“It’s a good thing,” West Babylon resident William Wilson said of the removal of the salary increases. “It’s more a symbolic thing than it is anything real. But at least it’s a symbol that they recognize they pushed too far.”

Babylon Village resident Karen Scribner called the salary increase removal “amazing.”

“I really didn’t think anything was going to come of it,” she said of the hearing comments.

For some, just the fact that the salary hikes were proposed was the issue.

“The original backlash to the request was almost more about the audacity than it was about the dollar amount that he was asking for,” said Copiague’s Jackie Burbridge. “To me, requesting it in this environment without providing an opportunity for those of us who are being asked to pay for it, to ask questions about it, was really the most offensive part. How dare you?”

After hearing residents’ frustration at the tax increase and piercing of the state’s 2% tax cap, the town is now also promising that the budgets for 2028 and 2029 will stay under the cap. Schaffer said the only caveat to that pledge is if the town gets “hit with another COVID or [Superstorm] Sandy.”

Town officials said that expenses beyond their control — namely rising health insurance and pension payouts, as well as contracted salary increases for union employees — made up $75 of the $113 tax increase for residents. To keep their future tax cap pledge, Schaffer said the town may have to look at reducing services or cutting programs.

“Now that this conversation is out there, we’ll be able to take everybody’s temperature on what they expect us to do to be able to keep that commitment,” Schaffer said.

 Elise Antonelli, of Babylon, said she is cautiously optimistic about the tax cap promise. She, like other residents, said the town needs to be more transparent in the budgeting process and hold workshops in the evening for residents. “I think it’s good that they’re saying that,” she said of the pledge. “The question is whether it will actually happen or not. I think they need to prove themselves.”

The town board will vote on whether to adopt the preliminary budget Nov. 18 at 3 p.m.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.