Mattituck Park District commissioners are going back to the well, asking taxpayers for a second straight double-digit increase that would push the district’s property tax levy up nearly 22% in two years.

According to the district’s 2027 budget materials, the proposal calls for raising $720,000 in property taxes, up from approximately $655,000 this year. The district estimates the latest increase would add about $16.25 per year — or $1.38 per month — to the tax bill for an average property, though the actual increase would depend on assessed value. 

Voting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20, from 3 to 8 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park in Mattituck.

The latest proposal comes a year after a bruising budget fight. Last August, commissioners proposed a $925,500 spending plan that would have raised $757,800 through property taxes — a 28% increase from the prior year. Voters rejected it 143-86. 

Park officials returned weeks later with a scaled-back proposal carrying a roughly 10% increase, which passed in a second vote, bringing the current levy to approximately $655,000.

With the new proposal, the levy would rise from $592,000 in 2025 to $720,000 in 2027 — an increase of about $128,000, or 21.6%, over two years.

The Park District oversees nine public properties covering roughly 63 acres, including six waterfront locations, two protected swimming beaches, two lakefront properties, playgrounds, athletic fields, walking trails, tennis courts, a dog park, community rooms and docks.

According to district budget materials, planned or needed work includes playground improvements at Breakwater Beach and Veterans Beach Park; parking lot repairs at several properties; tennis court, fencing and parking improvements at Sabat Park; work on athletic fields at Aldrich Lane; upgrades to Bailie Beach Lodge; and repairs at Love Lane Dock and other waterfront facilities.

Some of those needs are holdovers from last year’s budget fight.

After voters rejected the original 28% increase, Park District Chairman Kevin Byrne told The Suffolk Times that commissioners would have to seek other funding, delay projects or abandon some improvements. 

The district has since stepped up efforts to secure outside grant funding and build reserves that could be used as local matching money for grants, according to its current budget materials.

Byrne did not immediately return a message Friday seeking comment on the proposed increase.

The post Mattituck Park District seeks another 10% tax hike appeared first on The Suffolk Times.

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