Freeport taxes remain steady for 11th year

It was a milestone previously not thought possible: The property tax rate will not go up for Freeport property owners, and it won’t go up for the 11th consecutive year.

That’s all in this fiscal year’s budget, and something Freeport mayor Robert Kennedy is quite proud of. Especially since the tax rate remained the same despite the number of police officers growing from 72 to 107, as well as the addition of new vehicles to both public works and public safety.

So how was this done?

It starts with finding others way to bring in revenue without depending on taxes.

“Increasing non-tax revenue is the most important factor,” Kennedy said, referring to money raised through development of vacant properties, and bringing them back into the community.

Like the Moxey Rigby, the apartment complex on East Merrick Road that was revitalized and transformed into affordable housing. The benefit for Freeport? $15 million.

The complex was just one 10 properties village officials chose to develop and put back on the market. Others include the Freeport Armory on Babylon Turnpike and the Lexus dealership off West Sunrise Highway, itself generating some $10 million in revenue for Freeport.

By expediting building permits, Freeport garners an extra stream of revenue, Kennedy said, and the village is able to afford necessary changes without having to increase the property tax rate.

“It’s a businessperson’s approach,” the mayor said. “We’re just looking to stabilize taxes and provide better services than we had before.”

Those services have helped reduce crime by 56 percent, and even allowed Freeport to become an early adopter of body cameras — simply because they could afford to do so.

That extra revenue also pays down the village’s debt, all while allowing its reserve accounts to grow from a little more than $1 million to $39 million. That’s gotten the attention of Moody’s — which helps determine how much of a credit risk businesses and governments are — raising its credit rating three times in the past decade or so. That allows the village better interest rates when borrowing money, saving significant dollars in the long run.

Moody’s still isn’t done, as the agency is on the verge of raising its rating once again — getting closer to the highly coveted AAA rating assigned to those with the lowest credit risk.

“We have mandated increases in medical retirement, workman’s comp, liability, disability, for the last 11 years,” Kennedy said. “We have absorbed all of those increases.”

Maintaining all of that isn’t easy. It requires a lot of work, and a lot of financial discipline.

“Every one of our department heads has worked overtime in seeing that these policies are implemented,” the mayor said. “And the village is doing much better financially.”

Grants make a big difference, too, village attorney Howard Colton said, including a $420,000 grant recently secured through state Sen. Kevin Thomas to upgrade Freeport’s license plate reader system.

“We’ve really gone after our elected official, and tried to get as much grant opportunities that we can find,” Colton said.

If it weren’t for grants, taxpayers would foot much more of the bill to improve the village. And, to ensure no grant opportunities are missed, the village has hired a full-time grant writer whose sole job is to garner as many of these grants as she can possibly find.

It’s the kind of work that leads back to happy taxpayer, Kennedy said. Those like Regina Feeney — the librarian at Freeport Memorial Library who also doubles as the village historian.

“I think they’re doing a wonderful job,” Feeney said of the administration. “It’s another positive thing for Freeport.

“It just proves that we’re a great community.”