Town officials and residents spent the bulk of a continued public hearing on the Town of Hempstead's preliminary budget for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, 2026, discussing a townwide tax cut the supervisor proposed, the relationship between the town levy and separate special-district levies, proposed uses of reserves and several line-item concerns, including parks and the animal shelter.

Town Controller Nas Marino told the board that the town document covers 58 funds and includes 14 commissioner-operated special districts appended to the budget by state law. He said the townwide numbers published in some media outlets conflated the town's tax levy with levies imposed by independent special districts; he read figures for the town levy and said the board's proposal results in the town collecting $5 million less in 2026 than in 2025. Marino also said the town is projecting the use of reserves in 2026 at approximately $56,000,000 and argued the town has historically budgeted conservatively and typically uses less of projected reserves than initially shown.

Residents pressed officials for specifics. Dan Oppenheimer and other speakers asked whether the $389 million figure published in some outlets referred to the town levy or to a townwide total that includes special districts; Marino and the supervisor said the larger number includes special districts that are independently controlled and not changed by the town board. The controller said the town deposits roughly $284 million of tax revenue in town bank accounts and that special-district revenue is deposited into those districts' own accounts.

Several residents questioned budget increases and line-item detail. Nina Meredith asked why the Parks Department operating budget rose by about $6 million; officials pointed to rising pension, health-insurance and other operating costs as drivers. Felix Bocaccio and other residents asked how an "average tax bill" would change; town staff said many factors influence an individual bill (assessment changes, exemptions) but reiterated that the general fund levy reduction spreads roughly $5 million across taxable town properties and estimated the per-household impact to be modest.

Diane Madden asked detailed questions about the animal shelter budget, including a newly budgeted "crew chief" position, trap-neuter-return (TNR) expenses, cremation costs, outside-contract vet expenses and legal costs tied to pending lawsuits. Officials identified account numbers: legal services for the shelter were cited under account 641320 with an estimated $60,000 for next year; fees and services for contracted veterinary care were referenced under account 641260; the combined health/contract-vet line was described as roughly $850,000. Officials said estimates reflect anticipated next-year spending.

Public commenters including Joe Chonavalo criticized the budget's transparency and presentation, saying the document had changed presentation formats and was difficult for residents to follow; Chonavalo also told the board he believed the board had recently been found to have violated the Open Meetings Law. The supervisor and staff responded to several line-item questions and noted the preliminary budget was amended at the 2:30 p.m. session to add estimated ending fund balances and to amend the deputy supervisor's compensation.

No final adoption vote on the full budget was recorded in the excerpt; the session continued as the public hearing proceeded.

The town's public hearing schedule and related materials were cited repeatedly; several speakers requested more line-item transparency and clearer public explanations of how the proposed levy reduction would affect individual tax bills.