Budgeting generally isn’t fun. However, a capital plan, adjacent to an operating budget, can be, if you use your imagination. It shows the aspirations of the town and how it wants to allocate resources beyond its day-to-day operations. It can fund visible improvements, like road repairs, new vehicles, or even a net at a ball field, hung to catch that errant foul ball before it smashes your car’s windshield.
Last week, Becky Hansen, the East Hampton Town administrator, presented a draft capital plan to the town board, with the help of the department heads who were making the largest requests. For them, it’s a sort of Christmas list of items they desire, which they hope the board will agree to fund.
For the Police Department, mobile tower lights and new gun holsters. For Marine Patrol, a new vehicle and an electronic upgrade for one of their boats, which would allow a quicker connection to the Coast Guard. A new dump truck, tree trimmer, plows, and drainage systems for the Highway Department. For the Parks Department, soccer goals, basketball courts, and, of course — because it’s 2025 — new pickleball courts. For Buildings and Grounds, improvements to heating and air-conditioning systems, upgrades to comfort stations, and a new painter’s van. And, for Town Hall, the “Peach House,” a circa 1730s farmhouse, could be converted into offices.
These are just some of the 104 items included in this year’s plan. The board adopts a three-year capital plan annually.
“This is the year of infrastructure and recreation,” summarized Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.
To put it in context, the town’s 2025 operating budget is just over $100 million. Ms. Hansen’s proposed plan would cost another $12,679,400. To pay for it, the town would need to issue $10.6 million in new debt (the town is paying off just over $11 million in new debt in 2025), but would also take $1.2 million from its $51.6 million “unassigned” fund balance and search out grants to help offset costs.
(Looming over the discussion, however, was the possibility that the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress may change the present tax code, which sunsets this year. One change could be the elimination of the tax exemption for municipal bonds, which would make it more difficult for the town to sell debt to fund projects.)
One of the biggest asks, for a new storage building at the Police Department’s impound yard, came from the chief of the department, Michael Sarlo. “This would be a home for several of our oversized vehicles, like our command post communications van and our emergency services van,” he told the board. “It would give us an indoor storage space for impounded vehicles as well.” Further, he said, it would provide a centralized location at police headquarters for other equipment, as of now “sprinkled around other buildings.”
In the past, the town board had discussed repairing the Edward V. Ecker Sr. Pier at the Rod’s Valley Park Preserve, in Montauk. The harbormaster Tim Treadwell has suggested, however, that a bulkhead at Sammy’s Beach should be prioritized. Gaps have formed in it, which, he said, could lead to the shoaling of the inlet into Three Mile Harbor. “That would be more problematic than the current issue with the pier,” Mr. Treadwell said.
Highway Superintendent Stephen Lynch said a machine that screens compost is 30 years old and needs replacement. “We make good revenue on the compost” [between $350,000 and $400,000, he said], “so, we should replace it before the machine goes down and we miss a season.” The road system, however, is most important. “That’s probably one of the largest town assets.”
“And the one taxpayers interact with, day to day,” commented Supervisor Burke-Gonzalez. The recommendations could lead to more use of town facilities, she said, and suggested that the Planning Department analyze whether more parking would be needed.
Councilman Tom Flight, who lives in Montauk, highlighted some projects for the town’s easternmost hamlet that he hopes can be addressed, but are not in the current plan, including repairs to a gazebo on the Montauk Green, and a replacement generator for the Montauk Playhouse.
“I don’t see that under your budget,” Mr. Flight said of the generator. “It’s something I would personally like to see. I’ve said it before, it’s one of the town’s two emergency shelters and I’m uncertain as to the capabilities of that generator.”
“When we say the playhouse is an emergency center, what do we mean by that exactly?” asked Steve O’Brien, the town’s maintenance supervisor. “Is it going to be a heating center and a cooling center? Do we want the kitchen facilities to be operational? How much of the building do we want to have online in case of a major event? That would ultimately decide the generator size.”
Mr. Flight also wondered whether a pier at Kirk Park that has been closed for years would soon be repaired, or if it should be removed altogether before it becomes a real problem.
The senior center, however, is more important, he said, calling it “the elephant in the room.”
“We have it as a line item, saying it’s for ‘future discussions’,” said the councilman. “Are we going to be looking to use capital funds for that? I think perhaps we need to have a work session about the financing plan for the senior center and how’s that going to impact capital plans.”
“We can certainly have that conversation, but we don’t know yet because we haven’t gone out to bid for that project,” said Ms. Burke-Gonzalez. “As of right now, it’s $28 million.” However, she added, tariffs and the potential changes to the 2025 federal tax code could “really hurt us.”
Ms. Hansen took the board’s comments and said she would return to next week’s work session for a second presentation.
