Glen Cove City Council members shirk 2019 budget vote

Thanks to a legal technicality in the Glen Cove city charter, the city’s 2019 budget has been adopted, even though the vote by the City Council was 5-1 in opposition, with the Republican majority voting against it. (Mayor Tim Tenke is barred from voting on budget measures.)

Those who opposed the spending plan took care to thank Tenke and City Controller Sandra Clarson for their work in putting it together. Some, including Councilwoman Pamela Panzenbeck, added that they were concerned about cuts to community events, like fireworks and the Downtown Sounds summer concert series.

Councilman Kevin Maccarone took issue with the fact that “we’re raising taxes and cutting a lot of community-based events while we have $600,000,” referring to the re-mainder of a $2.7 million surplus, $2.1 million of which Tenke had used to balance the budget. “If we have a surplus,” Maccarone added, “give it back to the taxpayer.”

After the council voted down the proposal, city attorney Charles McQuair readily quoted section C9-6, paragraph C1 of the charter, which states that if the council fails to pass a budget by the fourth Tuesday in October, “the proposed budget as submitted by the Mayor and as amended by resolution shall be considered to have been adopted.”

The party-line vote irked Councilwoman Marsha Silverman, Tenke’s sole Democratic ally on the council. “The fact that everybody just showboated to vote against the mayor really is meaningless,” Silverman said.

Minutes before the budget vote, the Republicans voted 5-0 — with Silverman abstaining — for a spate of amendments to it that would have drastically altered the position of city attorney, essentially bringing it under the control of City Hall. The city attorney currently functions as an independent contractor under a retainer agreement with the city.

Tenke himself had proposed the amendments to his spending plan after meeting with McQuair and Clarson in order to better understand the fiscal ramifications of his proposal, which had been the subject of some debate.

McQuair argued that by remaining an independent contractor, he would save the city money. He was not being paid employee benefits, he said, and he was using employees at his firm, McQuair & Associates, as support staff dealing with the city’s business — staff that the city would have to hire if its legal affairs were brought in-house.

Silverman argued that McQuair has been abusing his office. She rattled off a list of invoices McQuair had sent the city for certain tasks — like sitting in on official meetings of city agencies and providing legal guidance on property sales — that are included in his retainer agreement.

Before the council’s vote on the budget, members of the public offered their feedback on the proposal. Former Deputy Mayor Barbra Peebles took issue with the fact that while the city’s 350 or so union workers would receive contractually required raises, department heads would not. “Fiscal responsibility is about protecting our assets,” she said, adding that the employees who manage the city’s 10 departments are its “most important assets.”

By the numbers

According to Tenke, the average property tax increase on a $500,000 residence would be $82.97. For a commercial property of the same value, the increase would be about $22.13.

The budget includes a 1.8 increase in the tax levy — the largest increase allowed by state law — but because the total value of residential property in Glen Cove has increased by about 7.7 percent over the past year, the levy increase will result in a net residential tax rate decrease of nearly 5 percent. In other words, residents will pay more in property taxes not because the tax rate went up, but because their homes are worth more.