Districts tweaks tax levies

The Westhampton Beach School District will be increasing the amount it collects in property taxes next year to slightly more than officials projected back in May, while the East Quogue and Remsenburg/Speonk school districts will be charging slightly less than originally anticipated.

The amount of money Westhampton Beach needs to collect in property taxes increased by about $167,000, to about $24.9 million. The School Board unanimously approved the final tax levy at a meeting on Monday. The district originally projected that it would have to charge taxpayers about $24.8 million when the $49 million budget was approved in May.

The increase is due to the fact that the district will receive less in state aid than originally planned, and because Westhampton Beach has fewer tuition students from neighboring districts than anticipated, according to Superintendent of Schools Lynn Schwartz.

The district’s tax rate will increase less than 1 percent from what was projected in May, from $5.28 to $5.31 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, according to Assistant Superintendent for Business Kathleen O’Hara. That figure represents an overall 2.1-percent increase from the 2009-10 tax rate of $5.20 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. A resident with a home valued at $1 million in the Westhampton Beach School District will now pay about $5,310 in school taxes this year, about $30 more than was projected this spring, and an increase of about $110 from last year’s $5,200.

The East Quogue Board of Education on Tuesday set a tax levy of $18.6 million, a lower figure than anticipated when this year’s budget was adopted last May, according to Elizabeth Lev, the district’s business manager. The change in the tax levy was due to a rise in the overall residential assessments in the district, she said.

Because of the change, the district’s tax rate will be set at $9.16 per $1,000 of assessed valuation—as opposed to the $9.62 rate announced in May, when district voters approved this year’s $21.3 million school budget, Ms. Lev said. The average homeowner with property assessed at $500,000 will pay about $4,580 in property tax this year, $230 less than anticipated, but still more than the current $4,225 bill, when the tax rate was $8.45.

Remsenburg/Speonk School District residents will have a slightly lower tax rate than was anticipated, even though assessed home values dropped overall since last year—a change that usually signals a higher tax rate. The district used about $251,000 in budget surpluses to drive down the tax levy, which decreased from a projected $10.7 million to a final amount of about $10.5 million, according to School Business Official Brenda Petrolito. As a result, the tax rate will be $4.66 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, down from the $4.68 projected when taxpayers approved the $11.8 million 2010-11 budget in May. Last year’s tax rate was $4.52 per $1,000.

A resident with a home valued at $1 million in the district will pay about $4,660 in school taxes this year, about $20 less than was projected this spring, but an increase of about $140 from this year’s taxes of $4,520.