Southampton Town Board, Town Trustees President Clash Over Budget and Tax Line

Tense interactions ensued at the June 1 special meeting of the Southampton Town Board as its members discussed a resolution in support of a state bill that, if enacted, would make the state law allowing for a separate tax line for the Town Trustees applicable in January 2025 instead of 2024.

That didn’t sit well with Trustee President Scott Horowitz, who was hoping to have the tax line and the 2024 budget established by the end of this year.

Town Trustees have been lobbying for their own tax line and financial transparency for years. There’d be no extra costs added to a property owner’s tax bill — there would just be a line showing the cost associated with the elected body.

An agreement was reached with the Town Board in 2019, and the enabling state legislation was signed last year.

There was work to be done to get the complex effort accomplished, with a Trustees budget for 2024 crafted to affix to the town budget. Neither the Trustees budget nor the overall town budget can pierce the state-mandated 2 percent tax levy increase cap. The town budget is traditionally presented at the end of September.

Representatives of the two bodies needed to work out exactly how much of town services used by the Trustees could be attributed to their separate budget and come to an agreement. Right now, the town budget simply lists a figure for the Trustees without itemizing expenses.

Voting to extend the time frame, Town Board members argued the Trustees had not provided all the information necessary to craft their separate budget for this year. Additionally, there was a clock ticking: The amendment to the law had to be filed this month, before state lawmakers recessed for the summer.

Horowitz argued that the information could be provided with ample time to get the tax line set up this year. Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said that if that occurs, he’d personally call Governor Kathy Hochul and ask her not to sign the extension.

Schneiderman said he really wants to see the separate tax line happen, but because of a delay in the Trustees’ response to questions, a vote on the time-sensitive state bill was warranted.

“What we’re doing is historic — this is a real important step,” Schneiderman said, adding he was “a little bit disappointed” the Trustees were not able to meet deadlines.

Additionally, there appeared to be disagreement regarding who was to set the budget for the elected body. Schneiderman said he worked hard to craft one that was tax neutral, and “the Trustees haven’t told me what’s wrong with it.

“I’m waiting for you to say what I did wrong,” he continued. “We’re out of time.”

According to State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who is carrying the enabling legislation in Albany, the Trustees set their budget, not the supervisor. He said it was agreed that when he sponsored the bill last year that the two bodies would collaboratively determine what the baseline budget for the Trustees is under the current budget, so that the 2 percent cap can be determined for the coming year.

“They have failed to do that so far. Hence the need for a possible one-year postponement,” he said.

It was also agreed, back in March 2022, that the town and the Trustees would sign a memorandum of agreement to memorialize consensus on the baseline budget.

Horowitz said the MOA is not acceptable, and when the Trustees’ attorney looked at it, “he said it takes the Trustees back 400 years.” He characterized the home rule message on the table for a vote as a knee-jerk reaction. “We can resolve this,” Horowitz asserted.

Schneiderman said the agreement would not diminish the powers of the Trustees. “If we have a misunderstanding, educate us,” Schneiderman said.

This week, Horowitz said the agreement unwound stipulations of a taxpayer settlement crafted in 1994. “It took us back to where the town had management and control in many areas where the board needs to have independence, and it was contrary to rights the board already had in control of their finances,” he explained.

The home rule message in support of extending the timeline until next year has to get through Albany, Schneiderman pointed out. If the Trustees want to get their tax line in place for this year, the supervisor said, “we have a couple of weeks with pressure.”

“Let’s not take such a defeatist attitude,” Horowitz countered. “This is counterproductive.”

The numbers are there for the budget, he insisted at the meeting, and the Trustees will work on the agreement. “We have to work together and start over,” the Trustee president said.

“We agree,” Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni interjected. “Perhaps another year is necessary.”

“This is a weird situation,” Councilman John Bouvier said. “Everybody here wants the same thing.” He said town officials sent a draft agreement to the Trustees, and they didn’t respond with revisions.

Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara also looked askance at the failure of the Trustees to respond. She asked Assistant Town Attorney Sean Cambridge to read out a timeline of work completed.

Drafts had been sent to the Trustees in April, and in May their attorney responded, looking to craft separate agreements for each shared service. “Your lawyer wants individual agreements. I’m telling you, that’s off the table,” Schneiderman said.

Horowitz continued to maintain that there was plenty of time to get the work done this year and the agreement has to work for both sides. Let the lawyers come to an understanding, he said, prompting an outcry from the Town Board when he offered, “You are putting this community in harm’s way.”

Further delay, he said this week, leaves the Trustees in a vulnerable position. “You’re leaving the Trustee board in a position where they do not have their finances on sound ground, where we do not have the full transparency for the taxpayer, and this is something that should have occurred back in the ’90s, and this can has been kicked down the road since the mid-1990s.”

“We’re trying to do this,” McNamara emphasized at the work session, noting that all the amendment does is provide a safety net if the work can’t be completed on time.

“This is in your interest, this delay,” the supervisor insisted. “If we don’t have the additional year and are not able to sort this out,” he said, “it’s going to put the Town Board and the Trustees at odds, and [we are] going to wind up in court over who gets to set the budget.”

Trustee Edward Warner Jr. also weighed in at the work session. “I understand what you’re doing,” he told the Town Board. “You’re trying to protect your board, and we’re trying to protect our board.”

The veteran official said he could remember a time when another town supervisor told him the Trustees could be defunded “at the whim of the Town Board.” Preventing that is one of the goals of creating a separate tax line and budget.

“It’s time for us to get a divorce,’’ Warner said. “I don’t think we need this extension.” He, too, was confident they could work things out on the budget in time to set it for 2024.

Schneiderman noted the Trustees are the oldest elected officials in town. The Town Board and Trustees can be independent, he said, “but we are also conjoined, like twins.”

The Town Board voted unanimously to extend the time frame, with Schneiderman concluding, “We’re gonna work like hell to get this done in the next two weeks.”

The Trustees, whose authority, the Dongan Patent, dates to colonial times, have authority over a variety of aspects of Southampton life — they regulate shellfishing and the use of wetlands, they’re stewards of water bodies and owners of bottomlands, and more. What they don’t have power over are varied aspects of their own budget. The Trustees constitute a separate municipality but with their budget under the Town Board’s review and power to amend or even abolish.

While the quest for a separate and distinct tax line dates back years, discussion renewed at a March 17, 2022 special work session. Providing a separate line for the Trustees operation would accurately reflect their true costs on a tax bill.

“Transparency and accountability are very important for any public board when you’re dealing with public money,” Horowitz asserted during that work session. In his fifth term, he said he’s been trying to lock down this dedicated line his entire tenure. It will be good for the community to see exactly what services the Trustees provide and what they cost, he said.

This week, the Trustee president expressed confidence the two parties can collaborate on a timely solution.