Northport Village budget passes with 3-2 vote; Pucillo and Sabia vote “no”

After an additional two-hour workshop that followed the standard budget process (which includes three workshops and a public hearing), the Northport Village board was unable to reduce the proposed budget increase of 1.44%; the budget was approved as originally presented with a 3-2 vote at Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting. Trustees Ernest Pucillo and Joseph Sabia voted against the budget, citing an unwillingness to approve an increase over 0% and 1%, respectively. They were both, however, unable to offer plausible changes to line items in order to make their desired cuts. 

A workshop held at Village Hall on Monday, January 8 took place at the request of Trustees Pucillo and Dave Weber, who both said they needed more information to approve the proposed budget during the January 2 public hearing. 

Northport Village treasurer Siohban Costello began the workshop with a statement noting that she’s been working in the Village treasury department for the last 13 years and has been heavily involved in the budget process for the last eight, originally training with former treasurer Len Marchese. “[Deputy treasurer] Janine [D’Orio] and I put our heart and soul into this process. We don’t take this lightly, we don’t just pick numbers randomly, we look back and do all our due diligence,” Costello said, adding that although she didn’t see where they could make cuts, she was willing to sit down with the board again and go through the numbers. 

Mayor Donna Koch piggybacked on Costello’s statement, adding that it’s a “fair and just budget” that gives the residents what they expect from the Village. She said that compared to the cost increases across the economy, the budget represents a modest increase of 1.44%. 

Koch stated that when she sat down with Costello and Pucillo prior to the January 2 board meeting to discuss the budget, Pucillo walked out saying that he was satisfied with the outcome. At the meeting, however, he said that he didn’t have enough information and would vote down the budget. “It’s humiliating,” Koch said, adding, “When that meeting concluded, Trustee Pucillo walked out and told Chairman [Phil] Weber, ‘I’m only doing what Joe [Sabia] wants.’” Koch called Pucillo and Sabia “siamese twins” who follow and speak for each other. 

“The treasurer's department is open 40 hours a week; this process started in October. There is no reason anyone didn’t get the answers they were looking for,” Koch said. 

Pucillo replied that he begins looking at the budget in the beginning of the year and “agonizes over it.” He said that he thinks about the person in front of him in the grocery store who can’t afford their groceries, and said that poverty on Long Island is increasing and it’s important for villages to help their neighbors by avoiding tax increases. “To be able to say to that family or person in the grocery store, ‘We know that life is hard, things are difficult, but the Village of Northport here is trying to provide and make your life a little easier,’ that was my objective, it was never a political objective,” Pucillo said. 

At the workshop, Pucillo said that he’s asking department heads to think about ways to save and Trustee Joe Sabia agreed. When the trustees were asked by Trustee Meghan Dolan about where they see expenditures that can be removed or reduced, they offered no specific examples. Each department head was present (including from highway, parks, fire, police and sewer departments) to answer questions put forth by Pucillo; he went through expenditure line items and asked department heads to explain them. Based on their responses, no reductions were deemed necessary or appropriate.

“At the workshop I tried to impress on all department heads that by reducing some discretionary spending, we could tell the residents that the Village would not have any tax increase this year,” Puciilo told the Journal in an email yesterday. “Department heads felt they could not reduce discretionary spending, but I disagree.” 

Pucillo also recommended increasing revenue estimates, but was told by Costello that overstating revenues would get the Village in financial trouble when they aren’t bringing in the funds they expected. “I always feel that it’s important for the government to take the risk instead of burdening the taxpayer,” Pucillo said. 

The fourth and final budget workshop ended with no changes to the proposed budget. At Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting, the budget public hearing resumed, with no community or board members speaking publicly about their stance. The budget was approved 3-2, with Koch, Dolan and Weber voting in favor, and Pucillo and Sabia voting against it.

“I still believe we could have had no tax increase this year with some reduction in expenses without affecting the services of the Village,” Pucillo told the Journal. “I could not vote to approve a budget that had an unnecessary tax increase. I feel we let the residents down by increasing their taxes…If there is room to reduce taxes we should do so. I think we could have done better,” Pucillo said. 

Trustee Sabia has not yet responded to an email from the Journal in reference to his “no” vote.