Historically, when a village incorporates, the overall tax bill to the village residents will not go up! Let's repeat that…taxes don't go up, this according to Joseph Prokop, municipal attorney for the villages of West Hampton Dunes and Islandia.
The reasons are simple.
Once the village is formed, all local taxes for services that will be taken over by the village come to the village. (Currently these taxes are going to Brookhaven Town.) That's why it's also wrong to say, "A village is just another layer of government." The planning and zoning board duties, the building department functions, code enforcement and local court all move laterally over to the Village from the Town. The taxes collected to carry out these duties also move over laterally.
In addition, other fees and taxes that the town has been paid will now be paid directly to the village, such as franchise fees from Cable, telephone and LIPA, mortgage taxes and a myriad of other revenues. Fines received for zoning, housing and code violations will also go directly to the Village, as opposed to the current system where those funds go directly to the state of New York for disbursement throughout the state.
Another source of revenue that is not available to any civic association is the municipal grant, available only to municipalities like villages, cities, townships, and counties. As a village Mastic Beach could apply for a wide array of grants to directly improve the quality of life and improve the Village. We will no longer be fighting other hamlets for our share of municipal grant money being redistributed by the Town and County, no longer "fighting for our piece of the pie." We will be getting "the whole pie."
The Mastic Beach Village Exploratory Committee is preparing a "cost analysis," or feasibility study, which will clearly outline what revenues can be expected to come to the Village compared to what expenses may be budgeted.
Don't worry, many of us on the committee are retired and on fixed income - we can't afford large tax increases either!