Riverhead officials defend tax increases in 2026 budget as resident backlash builds

Riverhead residents are urging the town board to reconsider a 6.7% tax hike, while town officials say the alternatives are layoffs and service cuts.

The $77.9 million budget for 2026 is expected to pierce the 2% state tax cap, an outcome Supervisor Tim Hubbard said was “unavoidable” due to contractual salary increases, as well as pension and health insurance cost increases that alone exceed the cap.

Under the proposal, the average homeowner could see their tax bills increase by $274 next year.

To stay within the cap, Hubbard said he would have had to consider 15 layoffs.

“When you lay people off, it goes back to the last ones hired, so you’re looking at younger people with young families,” he said during a hearing Thursday. “I refuse to do it.”

Residents packed a town meeting on Thursday to voice concerns about the spending plan and plead with town officials to take another pass at the budget amid the current economic climate. Many expressed frustration as Riverhead plans to pierce the tax cap for the fourth year in a row.

“There are ways to tighten the belt,” said Claudette Bianco of Baiting Hollow. “Everybody else lives within their means, and you should too.”

She suggested the proposed increases may have cost Hubbard in Tuesday’s supervisor race as taxes were a chief concern to voters.

Jerome Halpin, the Democratic nominee, currently has a 21-vote lead against Hubbard, according to unofficial returns from the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Absentee ballots must still be tallied, officials said.

“Ignoring the taxpayers is disrespectful and costly,” she said. “People are angry.”

Bianco said the town should have used fund balances to offset tax hikes. The plan calls for spending $1.25 million in fund balance for the general fund, one of three townwide tax funds. A 2024 audit shows the general fund has a balance of $28.4 million and $67.2 million across the townwide funds.

Jeanette DiPaola, the town’s financial administrator, said she’s saving with future capital projects, namely the town square, in mind. Though the town has grants, including $24 million in federal funding allocated for the project, a $7 million town contribution is required.

“We are just trying to be smart about how we apply fund balance,” she said. “We tried not to balance our operating budget with fund balance money,” DiPaola added, noting the practice can eat away at savings.

Several residents asked the town to take a closer look at the budget and find areas to cut back.

“These increases are coming ... solely on the backs of working families and retirees,” Debra Freitag, a South Jamesport resident, said at the hearing. Freitag said her property taxes have increased from $11,000 to $18,000 since moving to the town in 2021. “It’s killing us,” she said. 

Hubbard said the town has increased town permit and application fees in an attempt to boost revenues, a “mere pittance” in the overall expenses. Town officials are considering adding parking meters downtown to help boost revenue.

The supervisor also suggested that a tax reassessment, which hasn’t been done in decades, could change the financial outlook.

“Those are like bad words out of somebody’s mouth,” he said. “Honestly, there are people out there paying lower taxes than they should be.”

Police salaries are another factor driving increases in the budget, officials said. Running its own department of 100 officers, plus equipment and other expenses will cost the town $34.9 million next year, up from $31.8 million this year, according to DiPaola. 

Citing quick response times, increased presence and low crime rates, town officials said funding the department is crucial. Officials said they don’t want to be absorbed by Suffolk's police department.

“You don't know how many sector cars they would actually assign to the entire town ... there probably would not be many at all,” Councilwoman Denise Merrifield said.

The town has to offer competitive salaries to attract and retain good officers, Merrifield said. “You don’t want the bottom of the barrel.” 

The town is accepting comments on the budget proposal until Nov. 16 and has until Nov. 20 to adopt a plan.