Riverhead Town budget

With EPCAL redevelopment still more vision than reality and cash reserves running out, Riverhead Town faces a budget gap it won't plug without major tax hikes, layoffs or both. For real. Tough decisions must be made during a heated local election season by a board that hasn't even adopted a budget for four of the past five fiscal years.

The 2-percent property tax levy cap will be extended through 2020, under an end-of-session deal announced this afternoon by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate leader John Flanagan.

The assistance Supervisor Sean Walter has been hoping to get from a state financing authority to refinance Riverhead's staggering CPF bond debt is far from guaranteed.

Split board approves department consolidation, 7 employee promotions and/or raises; town planner's retirement, payout made official.

Longtime Riverhead planning director Rick Hanley has put in his retirement papers effective Jan. 3, according to Supervisor Sean Walter. He will 'bump' a less senior planner from her position for three days.

Suffolk County officials yesterday announced a three-year agreement that will increase sales tax revenues for town and village police agencies by $6 million. Riverhead will see an extra $178,900 in 2015 — money which has already been spent in the town's adopted budget.

Riverhead's 'Supervisor for a Day" presided over Wednesday's town board meeting, where the board: held a hearing on the 2015 budget, set a Dec. 2 hearing on the issue of private roads maintenance by the highway department, authorized a $350,000 grant application for WaterFire Riverhead and more.

Supervisor's 2015 operating budget would increase the town tax levy by 2.08 percent over 2014, while the tax rate would raise by .58 percent.