HUNTINGTON, NY – August 26, 2026
Town of Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth laid bare an uncomfortable fiscal reality during today’s first public workshop on the Town’s 2027 budget: Huntington faces a roughly $16 million gap, and for the first time in a decade, piercing the state-mandated tax cap appears nearly unavoidable.
Councilwoman Jen Hebert, Councilwoman Theresa Mari, Councilman Dr. Dave Bennardo and Town Clerk Andrew Raia joined Smyth for the workshop. Councilwoman Brooke Lupinacci was not present. The session was the first in a series of budget workshops scheduled before the September 30, 2026 deadline for the tentative budget to be filed with the Town Clerk.
Smyth opened by framing the scope of the problem plainly. The Town’s operating budget, currently approximately $250 million, faces a 2027 draft that could reach $264 million if existing services are simply rolled forward, compared with a current draft of approximately $248 million designed to stay just under the tax cap.
That represents roughly a 5.6% increase in the overall Town budget. For 2027, New York State’s tax cap limits growth in the amount local governments can raise through property taxes to 2%, subject to certain adjustments.
“There’s almost no mathematical way to avoid this,” Smyth said.
The Town has approximately $3.9 million in room under the tax cap, according to the Comptroller’s Office. But nearly all of that is consumed by one increase alone.
John Clark, Director of Environmental Waste Management, explained that the Town is projecting approximately $3.8 million more in refuse-related costs in 2027, including increases under the Town’s new contract with Reworld, formerly known as Covanta. A scheduled turbine and generator overhaul at the facility is also expected to cost Huntington approximately $1.5 million in lost energy credits, which normally help offset processing costs.
“Right out of the gate, the tax cap has been exhausted,” Smyth said.
A breakdown presented by the Supervisor showed roughly $20 million in increased costs between 2026 and 2027, including regular salaries increasing by $2.1 million, health insurance by $1.8 million, overtime salaries by $1.7 million, retiree health insurance by $1.5 million, principal paid on debt by $1.5 million, and vehicle repairs and supplies by $1.1 million.
Approximately $141 million of the Town’s total budget is non-discretionary.
The Human Cost of Cutting to the Cap
The draft budget prepared to meet the tax cap required a 16% reduction across nearly every department, an exercise Smyth called “very painful” but ultimately illuminating.
“It has illustrated quite frankly how much of this town and how much of the services that we provide to the taxpayers – are provided – at very little cost,” he said.
The largest single category of cuts falls on Parks and Recreation, where the draft eliminates roughly 400 seasonal employees, including camp counselors, lifeguards and park maintenance workers. Town-wide, the draft affects 214 part-time employees and 477 summer help positions out of a total Town headcount of approximately 859.
Smyth explained that cutting seasonal staff is a particularly blunt instrument because an individual lifeguard or camp counselor may earn only a few thousand dollars over the summer. Finding significant savings through that workforce therefore requires eliminating large numbers of employees.
Following the workshop, Huntington Matters spoke with C. Todd Jamison, Director of Parks and Recreation, about what those numbers would actually mean for residents.
“It would decimate Parks and Recreation,” Jamison said.
Under the tax-cap draft, Jamison said summer camps, the pool, lifeguards and the ice rink could all be eliminated because the department relies heavily on part-time and seasonal employees. He pointed specifically to summer camps as an affordable service many working families depend on.
“The camps are childcare. Let’s keep it real,” Jamison said.
Without seasonal staff, summer camps close, eliminating their associated fee revenue. Without groundskeepers at Dix Hills Golf Course, greens fees disappear. In some cases, the cuts reduce revenue along with expenses while the Town may still retain responsibility for maintaining the property.
Public events, including the fall festival, St. Patrick’s Day parade, concert series and similar programming, have also been eliminated from the tax-cap draft. Parks and Recreation’s reach extends further, with the department providing support for a number of local cultural organizations, including historical societies.
Board Looks for a Middle Ground
Smyth’s position that he would not “decimate the town” was echoed by the other Town Board members present as they began discussing what should be restored to the draft.
Councilwoman Jen Hebert pushed for the Board to find a middle ground.
“We need to approach it as: we’re about sixteen million over – where can we land where we’re not decimating our staff and our programs?” Hebert said.
Hebert also called for the Board to reconsider the recently expanded retirement health benefit for elected and appointed officials, which reduced the required years of service to qualify for Town-funded retiree medical coverage from 12 years to six.
“I will pay for that decision. And still, I think it’s the right thing to do,” Hebert said.
Councilwoman Theresa Mari, who had requested that the Board delay its August vote on piercing the tax cap until members could see what staying under it would actually require, said the exercise showed how seemingly small cuts could affect everyday services.
“It’s the simple things like that, that I don’t think our community wants to lose,” Mari said, pointing to clean beaches, maintained facilities and other services residents may take for granted. “They seem like little things, but they’re not.”
Mari also noted that Town, highway and garbage taxes represented approximately 8% of her overall property tax bill, saying she believes residents should understand what portion of their total tax bill the Town actually controls.
The Board agreed that the path forward involves adding back essential services from the tax-cap draft, particularly those affecting seniors and youth, while accounting for what each restoration costs.
“The purpose of this is to show you what, without consideration of policy decisions, under the tax cap looks like,” Smyth said. “So we can start adding back in.”
What Happens Next?
Today’s workshop was the beginning of a budget process that will continue through the fall. The tentative budget must be filed with the Town Clerk by September 30. The Town Board can then review the spending plan and make changes. Once that review is completed, the amended tentative budget becomes the preliminary budget.
If the Town ultimately needs to exceed the state tax cap, the Town Board must first adopt a local law authorizing the override with at least a 60% vote, or three of the five Town Board members.
The Town Board must finally adopt the 2027 budget by November 20. If a final budget is not adopted by that deadline, the preliminary budget, including any revisions already made by the Board, becomes the budget for the following year.
Smyth said the workshop process is intended to give the Board and the public a transparent look at the choices ahead before those decisions are made. Residents with questions or input were encouraged to contact the Town Board, while department directors and deputy directors are available to speak with council members about the real-world impacts of proposed cuts.
The next Huntington Town Board budget workshop is scheduled for September 3, 2026 at 2 p.m. in Room 114 at Huntington Town Hall, 100 Main Street, Huntington, NY.
Photography by Dana E. Richter.
