Fire commissioners crunch numbers, project tax cut

Taxpayers in the Shelter Island Fire District will see a drop in their bills in 2014 if the Board of Commissioners adopts the proposed budget at the end of this month.

For those whose property is assessed at $640,000, they’ll see a 99 cent savings, while those with property assessed at $1 million will save $1.50, district treasurer Amber Williams said Tuesday night. The current tax bill of $176.32 for that $640,000 property would drop to $175.33 while the $1 million property tax bill would drop from $275.50 to $273.95.

The budget calls for raising $795,470 from real estate taxes on a total appropriation of $834,040, Ms. Williams said at a public hearing Tuesday night where only commissioners and two chiefs were present. That’s up from $792,976 raised from property taxes to support the current year’s budget.  A 1 percent increase in the tax base enables the fire district to lower taxes slightly, Ms. Williams said.

“If there’s no increase, people can’t be upset,” Fire Commissioner Richard Surozenski said.

Missing from the proposed budget are allotments the Fire Department’s three chiefs had requested for major changes to two positions — that of the commission secretary and the houseman.

While the commissioners have advertised for a secretary to replace Jackie Tuttle, who is retiring, and the advertisement calls for some new responsibilities, the pay for the job would go from $8,400 to $8,600 annually. The new responsibilities would include some record keeping that Ms. Tuttle presently doesn’t do.

As for the houseman, duties are currently split between Jackie Capon and Linda Steinmuller, daughter of the commission chairman. The current allocation for the job is $7,560 as compared with $7,710 budgeted for 2014. But the chiefs had called for restructuring that position and hiring a civil service employee to tend to the needs of all three firehouses. Although Mr. Steinmuller said last month that was still under consideration, the budget doesn’t reflect much of a change.

But Chief John D’Amato and Second Assistant Chief Greg Sulahian, who were present at Tuesday night’s hearing, were silent on the subject.

While voters elect commissioners, it’s up to those commissioners, after putting the proposed budget forward in a public hearing as they did Tuesday night, to have the final word on its adoption.