HUNTINGTON, NY – September 23, 2026
Taxes, Huntington’s 2027 budget, medical benefits for elected and appointed officials, Cornerstone Melville and the future of the Melville Town Center have generated hundreds of comments and questions from Huntington residents over the past several weeks.
So, we invited Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth to sit down with us for a special September 18 episode of the Huntington Matters Weekly Update Podcast and answer some of those questions directly.
Hosted by June Margolin, Dana Richter, and Diane Schaber, the Weekly Update connects residents from Cold Spring Harbor to Commack, Asharoken to Melville, and everywhere in between.
We skipped our regular segments and spent nearly 80 minutes putting residents’ questions to Smyth, with plenty of follow-ups along the way.
👇 Watch the full episode below and please subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Medical Benefits for Elected and Appointed Officials
We started with one of the most discussed issues in Huntington Matters Community Forum: the December 2025 changes to medical benefits for certain elected and appointed Town officials.
Smyth said the Town reduced the service requirement from 12 years to six years and pushed back on the description of the benefit as “lifetime medical.” He explained that eligible former employees must fall within the applicable age and service requirements. At age 65, under the Town’s benefit guidelines, Medicare becomes the primary insurance, and Smyth confirmed that the Town continues paying Medicare Part B.
That led to an important exchange over what “lifetime” means. Diane responded, “So it IS lifetime medical…” and pointed out that Medicare recipients normally have to pay for Part B themselves. Smyth responded, “Right.”
One question remains unresolved: exactly how the benefit works for an eligible spouse or dependent, particularly when that person is younger than 65. Smyth told us he would have to get back to us on the spouse portion.
We also asked why the service requirement was reduced to six years. Smyth connected the change to Huntington’s 12-year term limits and changes to New York State’s election calendar. He explained that when the State was changing the election cycle, there was uncertainty over how Huntington’s terms of office would align with the new schedule, including whether certain officials could end up serving shortened terms. Smyth said the Town changed the medical benefit eligibility requirements based on what officials expected those election-cycle changes would mean for terms of office.
He emphasized that someone cannot simply work for the Town for six years while young, leave and return decades later at age 55 to claim the benefit. Additional requirements involving age, service and gaps in Town employment apply, although Smyth acknowledged that he did not have every provision memorized.
What Does It Cost?
Smyth said the medical benefit change will have zero fiscal impact on the 2027 budget. The Town reviewed employees who could potentially become eligible during 2027. According to Smyth, those within the applicable age range either would not be leaving Town employment or already had enough service to qualify under the previous rules. He said an impact could potentially begin later, possibly around 2029.
Smyth also told us one former Town employee with eight years of service has qualified under the revised rules. According to Smyth, she was 64 when she left Town employment and will receive approximately 11 months of the pre-Medicare benefit before transitioning to Medicare at 65.
We also asked whether residents received enough notice and explanation before the change was adopted. Smyth said he could not answer that and questioned whether newspaper legal notices remain an effective way to reach residents. The discussion expanded into how Town government communicates with the public and whether more notices should be delivered digitally.
Huntington’s 2027 Budget: Where Is the Money Going?
From there, we turned to Huntington’s 2027 budget and the approximately $16 million gap discussed during the Town’s budget workshops.
When we asked what is driving it, Smyth’s first answer was:
“Garbage, garbage, garbage.”
He said Huntington’s allowable increase under the tax cap is approximately $3.8 million, while the Town’s waste disposal contract alone is expected to increase by roughly $4 million. According to Smyth, that cost is projected to rise from approximately $29 million to $33 million.
And no, cutting garbage collection from twice a week to once a week would not necessarily solve it. Smyth explained that the disposal cost is based on weight, not the number of pickups.
“The worst thing you could put in your garbage is a banana peel.”
The banana peel led to a much bigger discussion about municipal solid waste, the eventual closure of the Brookhaven landfill and what transporting waste off Long Island could mean for future costs.
Garbage is only part of the increase. Smyth walked us through additional projected costs involving salaries, employee health insurance, overtime, existing retiree health insurance, debt, state retirement costs, vehicle repairs, workers’ compensation, utilities and other expenses.
His broader point:
“Our residents pay a lot of money in taxes. And they rightfully should demand class A service from the Town’s government.”
Watch the interview for his explanation of where those costs are increasing and what maintaining Town services has to do with the budget gap.
What Happened to the Town’s Reserves?
We have heard this question repeatedly: If Huntington had substantial reserves, why not use them instead of raising taxes?
Smyth described reserves as the Town’s savings account or rainy-day fund and said Huntington had previously accumulated enough that the Town was criticized for holding too much money. The Town then began drawing those reserves down rather than increasing taxes or borrowing for certain capital expenses.
“As Chief Financial Officer of the Town, I don’t think I can have enough reserves.”
Smyth estimated that approximately $61 million remains across the Town’s various reserve accounts, although he said he wanted to confirm the exact number. He also explained why those reserves are not one giant pot of money that can simply be moved from one purpose to another.
Huntington has maintained a AAA bond rating, and Smyth said rating agencies have now cautioned the Town against drawing its reserves down further.
What Could a Tax Increase Mean for Your Household?
Rather than focusing on the 19% figure that has generated so much discussion, Smyth said he is currently looking at the potential increase in actual dollars.
“We’re looking at average households and we’re trying to keep it to about $25 per household per month.”
He described that as a rough target for an average household with an approximately $10,000 total property tax bill.
As we have discussed in previous Huntington Matters Weekly Updates, individual tax bills vary considerably depending on where a resident lives and which taxing districts apply. The Town also collects taxes for entities it does not control, including school districts. That makes it difficult to translate a Town tax levy increase into one percentage that accurately describes every household’s total property tax bill.
The 2027 Budget Isn’t Finished
Smyth emphasized that the budgets presented during the workshops were drafts created for discussion, including an exercise showing what staying within the tax cap could require.
“I haven’t presented a budget yet.”
He said the preliminary budget must be filed with the Town Clerk by September 30 and is scheduled to be presented to the Town Board on October 3. After that, Town Board members can propose amendments as resolutions, including cuts, additions or shifts in spending, before the final budget is adopted.
Huntington Matters will continue keeping residents informed as the 2027 budget moves through each step of the process. Sign up for the Huntington Matters email newsletter so you don’t miss our updates.
Melville Town Center: What Does the “Pause” Actually Mean?
Our final major topic was development in Melville, and we started with something June openly admitted she had misunderstood.
June is one of many residents who believed the 400-unit “pause” in the Melville Town Center process meant the Town would wait for the first development to be built and occupied before evaluating its impact and considering another project.
Smyth said that was never the intention.
“It was the Town’s way of controlling the pace of development.”
He said the Town can evaluate proposed projects using their plans, number and types of apartments and projected demands on infrastructure and services rather than waiting years for a building to be completed and occupied.
Smyth also explained why he believes requiring projects to proceed one at a time could create other problems, including giving one developer significant leverage over another waiting behind it. That exchange is worth watching because it substantially changed our understanding of what the “pause” was intended to accomplish.
Cornerstone Melville
We asked whether the Town must decide on the Cornerstone Melville application within 90 days of its public hearing. Smyth said the Town Board can extend that period when it needs additional information or time.
Then we asked him directly whether he believes there is enough information to consider another Melville Town Center project.
Smyth stressed that he was speaking only for himself:
“I am satisfied with what’s been presented so far.”
That is Smyth’s position, not a decision by the Town Board. The Supervisor is one of five members of the Huntington Town Board and has one vote alongside the four Councilmembers.
Smyth also discussed the workforce housing proposed as part of Cornerstone Melville, including who would qualify and how affordability would be maintained. The conversation also touched on the Town-wide affordable housing priority for qualified volunteer firefighters and EMTs. Current Town guidelines place qualifying volunteer firefighters and EMTs first on the affordable housing waiting list.
NYU Langone and Melville
Near the end of the interview, Smyth shared more about his conversations with NYU Langone regarding its plans for the Huntington Quadrangle buildings 1 and 2 properties within the Melville Town Center area.
No formal plans had been submitted to the Town at the time of our interview.
Smyth described what NYU Langone was considering for the approximately 46 to 47 acres, including where the different pieces of the proposed medical campus could be located:
“Broadly speaking, [the plan] is to build the hospital closest to Route 110, the outpatient and offices in the center of the property, and then do the medical school on the east side of the property on Maxess Road.”
He said housing could also be incorporated into the medical campus for medical students, doctors, nurses and other staff, along with retail and restaurants designed to connect the property with the larger Melville Town Center. These remain concepts described by Smyth, not an approved or formally submitted development plan.
And Then We Got Into Gateway…
If you watched the episode, you already know.
While discussing development, the conversation took an unexpected detour into Gateway Plaza at 1000 New York Avenue in Huntington Station, which was completed in September 2020.
Supervisor Smyth has some very strong opinions about that project.
So do I.
We disagreed. We interrupted each other. Things got a little spirited.
And we are not going to try to squeeze that conversation into this article.
During the exchange, Smyth offered to come back for a much longer discussion about Gateway, including the history of the property, the decisions made at the time, the Town’s role, the developer, and why Smyth believes the project should have been handled differently:
“I’ll come back. I’ll do a two-hour show on it.”
We accepted.
Gateway gets its own episode.
Watch the Full Interview
This special episode ran nearly 80 minutes because there was a lot to ask, and many of Smyth’s answers led to follow-up questions we had not anticipated.
Sometimes we got clear answers. Sometimes we discovered there was more we needed to learn. And sometimes our understanding of an issue was different from his.
Watch the full interview for the explanations, follow-up questions, disagreements and context we deliberately did not try to reproduce here.
And yes, the banana peels.
Have another question for Supervisor Smyth or feedback about the episode? Leave it in the comments or email us at info@huntingtonmatters.com. Your questions and feedback help us know what Huntington residents want us to ask next.
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