Dougherty: State of the town is sound

The state of Shelter Island Is “excellent” and the future will be “a wonderful era.”

That’s according to Supervisor Jim Dougherty, speaking at Sunday’s “State of the Town” address, a luncheon at the Ram’s Head Inn sponsored by the League of Women Voters Shelter Island.

Mr. Dougherty, who also hinted he would be a candidate for another term as supervisor in November, touched on financial matters and some current issues including the “dark skies” controversy and the fate of the St. Gabriel’s Retreat property.

“Taxes and budget woes” were under control, the supervisor said, with an increase in taxes last year of 1.1 percent “in the face of staggering expenses.” The total 2013 budget is $9.9 million. Mr. Dougherty pointed out the lion’s share of expenses come from two sources, health and pension benefits for town employees.

Pensions set by the state “are out of control,” Mr. Dougherty said, with a total of 20 percent of employees’ benefits going for pensions.

The contract with highway workers expires at the end of the year, the superior noted, and negotiations should begin this summer for a new agreement.

Mr. Dougherty reported that mortgage tax revenue collected for 2012 was about $231,000 with the town budgeting for $200,000 to come from that source. The revenue the town collects on mortgages is down significantly. Mr. Dougherty said at the height of the real estate boom, right before the crash in 2007, the town collected about $700,000 on the tax.

The town currently owed $1.6 million, a debt incurred in 2005.

Since then, the town “hasn’t borrowed a penny,” except for borrowing against expected money flowing to the Community Preservation Fund, a real estate transfer tax for people buying property here.

One of the first questions from the audience was if Mr. Dougherty would file with the Board of Elections in June to run for another term as supervisor.

Tongue in cheek, Mr. Dougherty appeared confused that there was a filing procedure. “My handlers take care of that,” he said to laughter from the audience.  “I just show up and smile.”

He noted that it had been an “interesting year” for him. Mr. Dougherty has been battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma since last fall, and in February, Nancy, his wife of 42 years, passed away.

But he conceded that with the election coming up, “I’ll probably stick it out.”

Mr. Dougherty opened his remarks by thanking the League of Women voters for inviting him and that he had met with the “League of Men Voters” at The Dory Saturday night.

Someone approached him, the supervisor said, asking, “’You want dark skies? I’ll give you dark skies,’ and he decked me.”

One question was on the issue of preserving the St. Gabriel’s Retreat Center, a 25-acre parcel on Coelces Harbor, something the supervisor has pushed hard to accomplish using Community Preservation Funds. Mr. Dougherty said the owners, the Passionist Fathers, had priced themselves “totally out of site” of the market. He said another reason the property wasn’t moving was due to the “bureaucracy of the Passionists.”