Islip budget likely to exceed tax cap again, comptroller warns
Islip is headed toward a third straight tax-cap override, with higher sanitation costs driving the next hike and homeowners again facing a bigger town tax bill.
A higher sanitation contract is pushing Islip toward another breach of New York’s tax cap, a move that would land in 2027 and mark the third straight year the town has gone over the limit. Town Comptroller Joseph Ludwig said the added cost came from a contract approved earlier this year, turning garbage pickup and related services into the biggest pressure point in the budget.
The size of the problem was already visible in the town’s 2026 budget cycle. Islip’s preliminary budget, announced Nov. 12, 2025, projected spending to rise from $278.5 million to $288.9 million. Town officials said staying within the cap would have required cutting nearly $8.8 million, a reduction they said could have delayed infrastructure work, reduced or eliminated part-time positions and trimmed overtime in public safety and service departments.
In the most severe scenario, officials said as many as 60 full-time employees, or about 7% of the workforce, could have been affected. Earlier budget discussions also pointed to an 8% levy increase and about a $73 increase in town taxes for the average household, showing how quickly the cap fight can translate into a bill that residents notice at the kitchen table.
The 2026 override was not an informal warning. Town records show the Islip Town Board held a public hearing on Nov. 6, 2025, then adopted a local law to override the tax levy limit set under General Municipal Law Section 3-c for fiscal year 2026. That made the cap issue an active budget decision, not just a forecast, and set the stage for another year of strain.
Ludwig has been the town comptroller since a resolution dated Aug. 13, 2007, and his office is responsible for accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, audit and control, budgeting and financing. His latest warning suggested the same basic problem is still in place: essential services, especially labor-heavy ones like sanitation, are getting more expensive faster than the town can absorb them without raising taxes.
For Islip homeowners, the question is no longer abstract. Each override means a larger town levy and a harder sell from officials who say the alternative is visible service cuts, slower projects and fewer workers keeping those services running.
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