The Southold Police Department bolstered its ranks Tuesday as the town board voted unanimously to hire eight new officers.
The vote came after the town board voted to adopt its $40.1 million preliminary budget for 2015.
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the officers would begin in the very near future. “And I’m also quite pleased to say that one of those officers is of Latino descent. That’s very important, given the changing demographics of Southold Town.”
Councilman Jim Dinizio said it was ” long process” and he was pleased with all chosen. “I look forward to the help of the new candidates and it may give a little relief to all of the officers that work so hard in the summer for us.”
Russell said initially, the plan was to hire six officers to be hired immediately and two others, after two retire; the board ended up with eight new hires Tuesday night.
“I want to thank all the members of the town board for their patience with myself and civil service during the hiring process to get through the hiring of eight new officers,” Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said, from the podium. The process, he said, was commenced in March, 2014, and was “long,” but “culminated in the hiring of eight new officers that were so sorely needed. We had some tough decisions to make to get funding but I am very confident that we made the right decision and I thank you all for your support.”
The new hires included Jacob Bogden, Robert Haase, Jr., John Hinton, Michael Sirico and Garret Lake, effective November 24, Tara Tandy and Samuel Nitsch effective at the start of the Suffolk County Police Academy and Alex Chenche at a date to be determined.
The town and the Southold Police Benevolent Association inked a new contract on November 7 that gives employees an increase of two percent retroactive till January 1, 2012, when the last contract expired; a two percent increase per year is included in the two year contract.Under state law, the terms and conditions of the prior contract remain in effect until a successor agreement is reached by the parties.
Southold Town Councilman Bill Ruland thanked Russell for his “tenacity” in crafting the budget, a laborious process and said the finished product served the needs of constituents.
Reflecting on the big picture when he presented the initial proposed budget, the supervisor added, “The financial outlook for Southold Town in 2015 is good. Southold’s fund balance is healthy. Revenue from all sources has not increased and this budget does not contain unrealistic projections.”
The supervisor said the allocations he has proposed “are reasonable and provide adequate resources for maintaining services. This budget also provides funds to ensure that the staffing needs of each department are met.”
Russell said that while the town’s current debt service is “manageable,” he cautioned the board that “all future capital projects and capital purchases should be made only after thorough vetting. Fixed costs of debt service can substantially limit the discretionary spending of future boards and could make it very difficult to comply with New York State’s two percent tax cap legislation. No future bonding should be executed until capital plans for infrastructure, building assets and equipment are completed.”
Aside from the proposed photovoltaic solar array proposed for the landfill, Russell also said there is a need to identify revenue generators to reduce the tax burden moving forward.
Other key features, Russell said, include a “significant appropriation for land purchases” to the tune of $6.9 million. “The funds used to acquire these properties are from a dedicated account that can be used only for preservation,” he said. “Our preservation fund is well financed and we need to stay assertive in our preservation efforts.”
Russell said the budget includes all mandated expenditures such as obligations to the New York State Pension Systems and the New York State payroll tax and “does not rely on any one shot revenue sources, estimates all revenue on historical analysis and performance, and assumes there will be no appreciable increases.”
The budget also allows for salary increases for Russell and the town board. In 2014, the supervisor’s salary was $100,857, and the tentative salary for 2015 for Russell would be $102,370. In 2014, town board members were paid $33,218, which would be bumped up to $33,716 under the tentative budget for 2015. The amount proposed would be a 1.5 percent increase. “Every time an increase for elected officials is proposed, there will be people who criticize the raises,” he said. “I believe that the raises are appropriate.”
The supervisor thanked Town Comptroller John Cushman and Assistant Town Comptroller Connie Solomon for their “tireless efforts and commitment to excellence.” Russell added that the fund balance of the general operating fund “is healthy. In addition, I do not rely on bonding or borrowed money to fund the operations of the town. Other than large capital purchases, if we can’t afford it, we can’t buy it.”
