Smithtown approves budget with 9% tax increase that will pierce tax cap

Smithtown has adopted a 2026 budget that exceeds the state tax cap but prevents layoffs and cuts to town services.

The town board voted unanimously on Thursday to adopt next year's spending plan. The budget, which increases the tax levy by 10.7%, means the average Smithtown homeowner will see a tax bill increase of roughly $160 annually, or 9%, according to budget data. The salaries for elected town officials will rise roughly 4% under the adopted budget.

Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim did not comment at the Thursday meeting on the budget and was not immediately available for comment.

However, Wehrheim has defended the plan, citing budgetary pressures including inflation and higher employee health care and retirement expenses.

Without the tax hike, Wehrheim said the town would have to cut 46 full-time jobs. That would have resulted in a reduction in services for leaf and brush pickup, senior programs, lifeguard hours, youth bureau operations, as well as recreation and summer programs.

No members of the public commented on the budget during Thursday's meeting.

But residents, for the past several weeks, have been urging town officials to reconsider the tax hikes.

A crowd of about 20 residents attended a rally in front of Town Hall on Oct. 28 to protest the budget. Additionally, several residents pleaded with board members to reconsider the tax hikes during a Nov. 4 hearing on the budget at the town’s senior center. Several residents at the hearing said the town should consider cost-cutting alternatives.

Smithtown Councilman Tom Lohmann said at Thursday's meeting that he supported piercing the tax cap to avoid layoffs and cuts to services.

“The reduction of our town workforce — 46 full-time employees, and hundreds of our part-time youth that work on parks and beaches and recreational camps — in order to stay under the 2% tax cap is something that I cannot support, so I’m [voting] yes to all,” Lohmann said.