The-Leader_1972-01-06

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FREE^ORT
"36tli YElrR^ No. 37
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BAi^WIN
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MERRIGK
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FREEPpRT; NEW YORK. THURSDAY ^Iffl^UAll^fii 972
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R<>OSfeVElT
PRIC£: TEN CENfS PER COPY
"We have sincerely tried to put the lid on unnecessary
sp€?nding." With these ^ords. Mayor Robert Swefeney
announced the approval by Freeport officials pf a
$7,200,000 village budget for 1972-73.
A 70 page booklet spelling out the $773,000 increase
over last year's budget was available for t h e 35 taxpayers
y.who turned out for the public hearing Monday night at
Village Hall. Not too many people had sought the lengthy
btidget report prior to the meeting and only one Freeport
I Business man, Henry Spitzler, acknowledged having read it.
\tSpitzler, who seldom sees eye to eye with the present
adniihistration, received a veiled threat from the Mayor at
/one point in the proceedings, with being removed from
AMERICANTRAINING CORP TOURS NAVY DESTROYER: Recently the cadets of the John Paul
Jones Station>ofrthe American Training Corp., Freeport, were given a tour of the USS Moale DD 693 at
Fort Schuyler, New York.
The Cadets under the Command of CWO Dave Carman, of Ray Street, Freeport, were given a
comfrfete tour of the ship and an explanation of the functiori of the ships many different systems. At
noon the qrew invited t^#cadets to have "chow" with them in the crew's mess hall.
The tour was arranged by Petty Officer Sal Turso, of U.S. Navy Recruiting Station, Freeport, New
-York. The MOALE is a member of Destroyer Squadron 30 and stationed in New York for the training
of the U.S. Naval Reserve personn^ of this area.
w^hicii'-will.hike village property taxes approximately S.50
per $100 of assessed valuation. One of the major increases
in (he budget was spotlighted in the Mayor's message.
It is a cost ot $250,000 for street lighting that will be
assumed by the Village this year in order to avoid an extra
3% hike in electric rates.
Several civic leaders present complained of apathy on
the part of Freeport taxpayers, allQding to the small group
of those in attendance.
Following is Mayor Sweeney's budget message:
BlOr.KTMESSAGK
JANUARYS. 1972
It is unfortunate,-but it is a fact
of life, that the real estate tax is
the only method presently
available to raise monies to fund
the operating costs of local
municipb I government. The fact
that this is also the nnajor source
for our local school funds com­pounds
the care and concern of
this Board of the level of taxation
affecting the owners of real
property in our Village. We are
aware of the impact of taxation
on the merchant's margin of
profit-as well as its impact on the
pocketbooks of those people
trying to manage on a limited,
fixed income which remains
static while the cost of living - to
include taxes-continues what
seems to be a never ending
. spiral,-^,
Agalii. the requirements of our
coming year as reflected in this
budget, indicate the increasing
costs of government. We have
sincerely tried to put a lid on
uiinecessary spendinc In some
.acias we ..niay .hi„-'# - fktoo
deeply. I hope we have noL in
others we may have
overestimated our needs-again,
?.I hope we have not. We have
spent, many, many hours in
r'reviewing and revising this
.budget- the end pro^Juclwhich is
; priBseifited to you tbnight It an-
.iicipat^ an increase in ^our
Viilage tax ratf of ^ « a hundred
dollars of assessed valuation.
Although there are plusses and
minuses in all areas of the
budget, the greatest change is
the introduction of a new account
A 5!82, page 34- of the budgets
you have, an account for street
lightihg expense, in the amount of
$250,000 or approximately 30^ out
of the 50t increase.
The a.ssumption by the Village
of the cost of its street lighting is
necessitated by the ever in­creasing
cost of generating and
distributing electricity. Our
Board was told that unless it
undertook payment of the ccst of
lighting the streets of our Village
the cost to the electrical con­sumer
would have to be in­creased
an additional 3%. We
h>elieve that the user of a product
should pay the cost thereof. The
Village uses the electricity-it is
an essential factor in public
safety-and, in all equity, we
must assume our share of the
cost.
I propose tonight to depart
from thejpage by page procedure
adopted by this administration as
a method of r^iewing the
proposed budget.Me did make
available to the public the
complete line by line budget on
December 23, 1971. Copies were
available for inspection either^
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