Southampton Town Unveils $143 Million Budget That Would Hike Taxes 9.7 Percent, Add More Police

Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore on Thursday, October 2, presented a proposed $143.2 million town operating budget for 2026 that would increase spending by $9.2 million, or about 6 percent, and would hike the town’s tax levy by 9.7 percent.

The town budget office says the resultant tax increase, which would exceed the state tax cap on tax levy increases for the second year in a row, will raise town property tax bills by about $117 per $1 million of assessed value.

The total tax levy for 2026 will be slightly less than $95.2 million, an increase of about $8.4 million from the current budget. The tax rate passed along to property owners, based on the town’s estimates of its total property value assessment, would go up about 7.7 percent, Moore said in her budget message.

The budget adds three new Southampton Town Police officers — a detective, a lieutenant and a school resource officer — plus a public safety dispatcher, and allocates funds to purchase a Bearcat armored tactical vehicle for the police department.

It also proposes creating five other new positions in various departments and hikes spending on salaries and benefits by about $4.2 million over the current 2025 budget.

Moore noted that the town is in the midst of negotiating a new contract with its Civil Service union employees, but those anticipated salary hikes would not impact this year’s budget.

“These increases are necessary to address the challenge of retaining current employees and hiring new employees and will allow the town to continue to provide high quality of service to our residents,” Moore said in her budget presentation message.

Salaries for employees continue to be one of the largest drivers of the spending increases. Last year, Moore’s budget, her first as supervisor, hiked spending by more than $10.7 million, or about 8.7 percent, and required an 11-percent increase in the tax levy, in large part because it gave $3,000 across-the-board salary hikes to non-union employees.

Despite one of the largest spending and tax increases in the town’s history, almost the only criticism of it by the public came from those calling for raises to be given to union employees also.

Like last year’s budget, this year’s budget will require a four-vote super majority of the Town Board to ratify it because it exceeds the state’s 2 percent cap on tax levy increases.

The costs related to employees beyond just salaries also have continued to rise steadily. Health care benefits for the town’s approximately 500 full-time employees are rising about 6 percent in the coming year’s budget, Moore said, pension obligations rose 10 percent and worker compensation insurance rose 10 percent.

Also included in the budget is funding for improvements to communications equipment, the purchase of new police cars, new traffic management software and $3 million in paving and coastal infrastructure repairs.

Moore said that the hikes in spending — Southampton Town’s budget has swollen by more than 26 percent since 2022 — reflects the realities of providing town services amid inflation and soaring costs of living and doing business on the East End.

She pledged that once the town has gotten its pay structure for employees to a level that stabilizes retention and hiring, her budgets will be tamed considerably.

Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara, who was the lone vote not to approve last year’s budget, said she was happy to see this year’s budget include the addition of a second school resource officer for the police department.

“We currently have one resource officer serving eight school districts and this will bring us up to two, which is something we desperately, desperately needed, and I’m really happy that was the choice that was made,” she said. “It’s something we’ve wanted for a while, and I’m happy to see that in the budget.”

The Town Board will hold a public budget discussion on October 16 and public hearings on the budget on October 28 and November 12. The budget must be adopted by November 20.

“This budget reflects our shared commitment to public safety sustainable growth and responsible fiscal management,” Moore said. “I look forward to working together with my colleagues on the board and residents we serve to adopt a budget that is both prudent and forward looking, one that meets today’s needs while preparing Southampton for a strong and sustainable future.”