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Shrinking revenue stream in Brookhaven
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March 11, 2009 | 04:07 PM
Brookhaven Town's finance commissioner reported last Thursday that mortgage tax revenues for the first two months of this year are already $1.3 million less than comparable figures for 2008, and projected a possible shortfall of $6.4 million for all of 2009.
Commissioner Charlene Kagel told the council members at a work session March 5, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but," and then distributed a chart outlining the bad news. Kagel summed up her presentation by telling the board it may need to look into cuts in spending "soon" to avoid an operating budget deficit for the year.
The figures released by Kagel indicate real estate transactions in the town have reached a level below even the reduced number and size council members anticipated when adopting a spending plan only four months ago, in November 2008.
Councilman Tim Mazzei (R-Blue Point) responded by asking the finance commissioner about the number of vacancies in town positions. Kagel said there are currently 32. Mazzei suggested keeping those positions unfilled could reduce expenditures.
Councilwoman Connie Kepert (D-Middle Island) reminded the councilman that one of those vacancies, planning commissioner, was as a result of the Town Board majority Mazzei leads firing the previous commissioner last year and not yet having replaced the "critical position."
Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld (D-East Setauket) cautioned the board that some of the vacancies might be positions that should be filled to benefit Brookhaven's residents, and any consideration of not filling them be "analyzed carefully" before making hasty decisions. Fiore-Rosenfeld agreed with his colleagues that many of the 32 positions could remain vacant without adverse impact on town residents.
Kagel reported that revenue from the town's landfill in Yaphank, which represents nearly half of all town operating funds, are "not that awful." She also said an ongoing review of capital spending plans for 2009 may reveal potential savings in debt service — interest on town borrowing — by delaying projects into the future and by careful analysis of previous borrowing by the town. An incomplete and ongoing study of town bonding going back to the 1990s, Kagel said, indicates some money may have been borrowed but never spent, or instances where more was bonded than projects actually cost, resulting in the town paying interest on money it is holding but not using. Kagel said utilizing these funds instead of borrowing more might produce significant debt service savings for the town.
Kagel hinted that as much as $7 million in borrowed funds may be available, but said her analysis is not yet complete.
The finance commissioner was delivering a monthly report on town finances to a Town Board work session as requested by Acting Supervisor Lori Baldassare to keep the council informed of trends and potential financial problems for Brookhaven.
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