New Budget Will Include Raises for All


When the Town of Riverhead budget is finalized it will mean raises for the Supervisor, Councilmembers, Tax Receiver, Town Clerk and Highway Superintendent. The raises, among other items, will result in a budget and property tax increase. The Town is apparently feeling good about things including some hefty sales at EPCAL, a final bid for the landfill cap design, pending negotiations with a major operator at EPCAL and movement on several other fronts. We have to ask the question "When is it our turn?".


While no monies have passed hands for ski mountain (ugh!) there have been some other big sales of industrial sites at the former Grumman parcel. Surely some of these funds should be used to reduce our property taxes. Just asking.


Remove the Sales Tax on Heating Oil.

Ed Romaine, Legislator for the 1st Legislative District is attempting to petition the State for removal of the sales tax on home heating oil. Romaine states that only Suffolk County has a sales tax on home heating oil. His attempts may require a referendum on this item. Stay tuned.

Why is unleaded regular at 3.19 a gallon in East Moriches (Lukoil on Main St) and 3.29 a gallon at Hess in Riverhead?

Cold War Veteran?
NY State has now authorized local municipalities (county, towns or hamlets) to offer a real property tax exemption to Cold War veterans. A cold war veteran is someone who served on active duty for at least 365 consecutive days during the period from September 2, 1945 to December 26, 1991. The exemption will be for 15% of their property taxes (not including school taxes) and may not exceed $12,000. Current tax exemptions for veterans may actually be greater than the cold war exemption and property owners should review their own status individually. The Town has scheduled a public hearing on this matter on November 20 at 7 PM.