Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Jan. 9, 2026

KEEP IT AT 1 P.M.

To the Editor:

I’m disappointed to learn that the time for work sessions is being changed just to accommodate one Town Board member. 

Work sessions have been at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays for decades. Islanders have muscle memory and when they want to come and discuss something with the board, they show up at 1 p.m. Nine a.m. is also forcing other committees that meet in that room to change their meeting times. 

Also, many people from off-Island attend the work sessions, including people from the County, the DEC and the Board of Health. How early will they have to leave their home to get here at 9 a.m. contending with the trade parade on the South Fork or the North Ferry line if they come that route.

For the 12 years I served on the Board, I spent Tuesday mornings prepping for work sessions. When I retired from the Town Board, I was asked to put my name in for an opening on the ZBA. I said I wouldn’t because they meet Wednesday nights and in the summer I sailed on Wednesday nights. I would never have been so selfish to take that position and then ask the others to change the meeting dates just to accommodate me.

Just like one shouldn’t buy next to an airport and complain about the noise of airplanes, someone running for Town Board should know when the meetings are and if they aren’t convenient for them, they shouldn’t have run in the first place.

PETER S. REICH, Former councilman, Town of Shelter Island

RELEASE THE AUDIT

To the Editor:

Property tax, a stable recurring revenue, is the largest revenue source for Shelter Island. In FY2026, we budgeted $13,003,532 in property tax revenue for a budget of $17,685,901, 73.5% of the Town’s adopted budget. 

But since at least 2020, the budget plan adopted by the Town has understated the actual cost of running our town, resorting to a budget maneuver by transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the adopted budget from unrestricted and restricted fund balances, one-shots and other reserves.

This balances the budget, but reduces our emergency reserves, drains funds from other budget lines, and obscures the actual cost of running our town. We are artificially keeping the property taxes lower as we burn through our reserves and through our future.

The recent history of our budget transfer maneuvers is alarming:

FY2020 — $642,500

FY2021 — $640,317

FY2022 — $241,861

FY2023 — $453,232

FY2024 — $667,587

FY2025 — $670,142

FY2026— $903,696

This year, to keep the increase in property tax revenues to 2%, the Town will maneuver a shocking $903,696, the largest ever in the last seven years. This is a 35% increase from 2025. Of this $903,696, $489,000 has been transferred from the unrestricted fund balance; the rest comes from the Highway Capital Reserve, Cell Tower revenue, and other transfers. 

The budget represents our Town priorities; this year we failed to be up front about our revenues. If the Town Board has specific reasons to use a specific reserve, it should explain the reasoning. We cannot burn our candle at both ends; this is not sustainable.

To understand the trends of increased spending we must see the FY2024 audit and compare it to earlier years. We’re in FY2026 and still have no FY2024 audit. We cannot make prudent budget decisions when we don’t have the data. The public paid for the audit and has a right to the audit. Release the audit!

LYNNE WEIKART, Shelter Island