Village To Vote On Piercing Two-Percent Tax Cap

The Patchogue Village Board of Trustees will vote on April 9 on whether or not to pierce the New York state-imposed two-percent tax cap that has afflicted school districts and villages across Long Island.

Patchogue Village Mayor Paul Pontieri had the date set at Monday's Village Board of Trustees meeting.

Pontieri told Patch Tuesday afternoon that wanting to pierce the state-imposed two-percent tax cap has more to do with keeping the Village safe in terms of its accounting and not due to needing to stay within the cap’s limits.

“If we make an error, that error carries into the next year,” Pontieri said.

Pontieri also cited common cost increases such as a 15 percent increase in medical expenses and other rising costs that make the two-percent cap a challenge to work with.

“We’ve created the fairly health surplus that we will be able to work off of, and hopefully that surplus is above what we need to do,” Pontieri said.