Council approves $58.9 million budget, 5-1

Town Council · Meeting of July 21, 2026

EAST HAMPTON — The East Hampton Town Council voted 5-1 to approve a $19,358,960 general government budget and 6-0 for a $39,550,937 Board of Education budget, sending a combined $58.9 million spending plan to an August 5 referendum. Council Member Ted Hintz Jr. cast the lone dissenting vote, objecting to using roughly $600,000 in surplus funds instead of cuts to hold down the tax rate. Superintendent of Schools Tim VanTasel told the council the Smart Start preschool program carries a $97,000 grant against $204,000 in staff costs for 18 students, a gap exceeding $50,000.

Resident Shelby Galvin said her family disclosed sensitive information before learning by letter the program was cut, and Sal Nucifora called middle school athletics "the hill that I'm willing to die on." The council also set a Budget Town Meeting for July 29 and the referendum for August 5.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,112 words

Source: the Town Council meeting of July 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.

The Full Article

Call to Order, Agenda Adoption and a Point of Order

Chairman Dean Markham called the special meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. The council adopted the agenda on a voice vote without discussion. Early in public comment, an unnamed council member raised a point of order, citing a bylaw passed in January barring council members from using cell phones during meetings, and said a member had continued to be "disrespectful" by being on the phone while residents spoke. Markham said the point was "well taken" and asked all members and audience to mute or turn off phones. Later in the meeting, when Council Member Ted Hintz Jr. was asked a direct question, another member quipped, "Ted, do you have something better to do right now?" tying the earlier complaint to Hintz, though the transcript does not name him directly at the point-of-order moment.

Public Remarks: Residents Press on Smart Start, Transparency and Communication

Seven residents spoke during the 30-minute public comment period, almost entirely about the proposed cuts embedded in the third referendum budget. Neil Henrikson, of 19 Terp Road, asked that his tax payments not be used for property tax abatements. Greg Frutchey, of 64 South Main Street, thanked the town for paving Main Street and suggested including a budget-priorities questionnaire with tax bills, along with a student incentive program to find school efficiencies: "I think it's your job to make our job as residents easier for us to get our ideas, our genius, our creativity, including the kids, to you guys."

Shelby Galvin, of 46 White Birch Road, said her child was accepted into the Smart Start preschool program for the 2026-27 school year and that the family disclosed sensitive information, including pregnancy and labor history, as part of the application, only to receive a letter days later saying the program had been eliminated with no phone call or chance to discuss alternatives such as a sliding-scale fee. She said the superintendent had stated the district expected a $97,000 grant plus roughly $45,000 in potential sliding-scale fee revenue, just under $150,000 combined, and asked why the town was "foregoing nearly $150,000 in identified revenue" rather than charging a tuition fee as other preschool classrooms at Memorial School already do.

A second speaker, identified in the minutes as Chris Bitel of Old Clark Hill Road, questioned the elimination of a clerical position in the land use department paired with the addition of a new assistant land use enforcement position, calling the new hire unnecessary given other cuts. Cristal Chan, of 34 Walnut Avenue, said the Board of Education's proposed cuts had been well communicated before the community voted no on the prior referendum, and urged a yes vote this time so the town could "move forward into the fiscal year and focus on recovery," including a suggestion raised the previous night by a Mr. Finn regarding a homestead exemption to offset the effects of a recent property revaluation.

Sal Nucifora, of 147 Colchester Avenue, said he did not believe the Board of Education had formally voted on the specific cuts it proposed, attributing that process to Board of Education Chair Nancy Kohler. He argued the council, while unable to overrule Board of Education spending decisions outright, could set guardrails requiring the board to reopen union contracts, cap administrator salaries, or raise retirement ages, rather than cut what he called "the hill I'm willing to die on," middle school sports, which he said serves a significant number of students with disabilities or special needs.

"That's the hill that I'm willing to die on." [00:12:17] — Sal Nucifora, resident

Shannon Turner, speaking by Zoom, asked whether a projected town surplus could be used to restore road budget funds spent previously on emergency bridge repairs, and separately criticized the school district's use of the ParentSquare communication platform for budget updates, saying not all residents have access to it. Haley Guite, of 16 Curry Lane, said she was also a Smart Start parent now searching for alternate preschool placement weeks before the school year, and cited a figure from the prior night's meeting that preserving the cut programs would have cost the average household about $5.50 a month. She asked what the average homeowner is actually saving under the reduced budget and urged residents to read budget documents before voting again.

Town Manager's Budget Recap for the Third Referendum

Town Manager David Cox presented a summary sheet reflecting Board of Finance action taken the previous evening. He said the Board of Finance reduced the general government budget, after adjustments in the transfer station, police department, employee benefits, public works, library and contingency lines, to $19,358,960, a reduction of $437,820, or 2.2 percent, from the current fiscal year. He said the Board of Finance also reduced the planned transfer of current-year taxes into the capital reserve fund, intending to replace that funding with fiscal 2026 revenue collected in excess of budgeted amounts, bringing the total one-time cash use from fiscal 2026 into fiscal 2027 to just over $600,000. The Board of Education budget, after a further $350,000 reduction from the version that failed July 14, stood at $39,550,937, an increase of $787,986, or about 2.03 percent, over the current year. Combined, Cox said, the total town budget is proposed at $58,909,897, an increase of $350,166, or six-tenths of 1 percent, over fiscal 2026.

A council member, pressing Cox on the transfer station recommendation, asked directly: "Who is the policymaking body of the town? Is it not the town council?" and said the town manager should not have let a proposal to close the transfer station and contract with a private hauler reach the Board of Finance without first coming to the council. Cox responded that the idea originated as an unsolicited suggestion forwarded by a council member about potential savings from using a local contractor, and said he had not personally sent the recommendation to the Board of Finance. Markham intervened to say the council retains the ability to send the budget back to the Board of Finance, and that "berating town staff at any meeting is not appropriate ever."

General Government Budget: Fund Balance, Transfer Station and Sidewalks

Vice Chairman Jack Solomon moved to approve the revised general government budget at $19,358,960, seconded by Council Member Karen Wanat. Discussion turned first to a proposed elimination of town-funded sidewalk snow clearing, which would shift responsibility to adjacent property owners, including, one member noted, at Lakeview Cemetery. Cox said the policy, if adopted, would require a future ordinance change and said the council could take that up at a subsequent meeting or by August given the approaching winter season.

Hintz then raised the larger objection that shaped his dissenting vote: the use of roughly $600,000 in fiscal 2026 surplus funds, up from an earlier $400,000-range figure, to hold down the budget rather than making additional line-item cuts. He noted the budget had already failed twice and said the response had been to pull more from savings rather than reduce spending. "People have voted down these items twice so far," he said, and asked colleagues directly what they would cut instead of drawing from the fund balance.

"Absolutely ridiculous that you're going to close the transfer station without any public input, without anything." [00:34:08] — Ted Hintz Jr., Town Council member

Hintz specifically proposed delaying a $150,000 sixth and final sinking-fund payment tied to the middle school, suggesting the town instead seek an additional appropriation once a firmer cost figure was known, and argued that closing the transfer station without a competitive bid process or public input was premature given the town would be contractually bound to a private hauler for multiple years. Another member responded that no one spoke against the transfer station proposal at the Board of Finance's meeting the previous night, and that the council was "trying to find ways to save money" at residents' request after two failed referenda. The motion passed 5-1, with Hintz the lone no vote, consistent with the minutes.

Board of Education Budget: Smart Start Preschool and Middle School Athletics

Before the Board of Education motion, the council invited Superintendent of Schools Tim VanTasel to address questions, particularly about the Smart Start preschool program cut. Hintz said he had received numerous messages from constituents and wanted to understand the actual savings involved. VanTasel said the program's state grant is $97,000, while salaries and benefits for the two staff positions cost $204,000; a sliding-scale tuition fee, if applied, could generate up to $45,000 but was "not a definite." That leaves a funding gap exceeding $50,000 for the program's 18 students, VanTasel said.

VanTasel explained that families applying to the program were asked whether they wanted Smart Start, a separate special-education preschool option with "typical peers," or both, with planning beginning as early as January and February. He acknowledged that direct communication to affected families lagged behind board deliberations, saying the district faces legal limits on what it can communicate once a referendum is scheduled, to avoid appearing to influence the vote. He said letters went out the Friday after the Board of Education's Wednesday determination.

"Both of those programs have tremendous value in the school district." [00:46:00] — Tim VanTasel, Superintendent of Schools

VanTasel also discussed middle school athletics, which he said affects more than 200 students, compared with a smaller Smart Start population, and said both programs carry similarly high value to the families they serve. He said the district could not restart athletics later in the fall given scheduling, transportation and student physical and screening requirements, though he did not rule out a program's return if the $600,000 figure embedded in the current budget were to change. Hintz pressed further on whether a teacher currently assigned to Smart Start would move into a grant-funded special education vacancy, and whether that one-year grant could be renewed; VanTasel said the seed grant is allocated year to year and is not guaranteed, calling program planning "not a perfect science."

After the exchange, Markham moved to approve the revised Board of Education budget at $39,550,937, saying he did not "like how much we've had to cut the education budget" but that the figure reflected the referendum results; Wanat seconded. The motion passed 6-0.

Capital Improvements and Date-Setting for Town Meeting and Referendum

Cox told the council no separate vote was needed on the Capital Improvements Plan itself, since the only change from the prior version was the transfer-of-funds mechanism already folded into the general government budget discussion. Council Member Joelyn Leon then moved to set the Budget Town Meeting for July 29 at 3:30 p.m. and the budget referendum for August 5, between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., both at Town Hall; Solomon seconded. The motion passed 6-0. Cox noted the Town Meeting is a charter-required formality to confirm notice was published and that no substantive action is taken there beyond reading the notice before the matter proceeds to a machine vote by referendum.

Adjournment

Leon moved to adjourn at 7:35 p.m., seconded by Solomon, and the motion passed 6-0.

Dean Markham, Chairman, present Jack Solomon, Vice Chairman, present Tim Feegel, Member, present Ted Hintz Jr., Member, present, cast dissenting vote on general government budget Joelyn Leon, Member, present Karen Wanat, Member, present Richard Knotek, Member, absent David Cox, Town Manager, present Tim VanTasel, Superintendent of Schools, attended by invitation to answer budget questions Neil Henrikson, 19 Terp Road, public comment Greg Frutchey, 64 South Main Street, public comment Shelby Galvin, 46 White Birch Road, public comment Chris Bitel, Old Clark Hill Road, public comment Cristal Chan, 34 Walnut Avenue, public comment Sal Nucifora, 147 Colchester Avenue, public comment Shannon Turner, 42 Spice Hill Drive, public comment via Zoom Haley Guite, 16 Curry Lane, public comment

Board of Finance — recommended the third referendum budget figures discussed throughout the meeting, including the general government and capital reserve fund adjustments. Board of Education — adopted the budget reductions, including the Smart Start preschool and middle school athletics cuts, discussed in the Board of Education budget section. ParentSquare — school communication platform criticized by resident Shannon Turner for uneven resident access to budget updates. Smart Start Preschool Program — the early-childhood program proposed for elimination, the subject of extended public comment and council questioning of Superintendent VanTasel. Board of Finance summary sheet (July 20-21, 2026) — document presented by Town Manager Cox outlining the third referendum budget recommendations, cited throughout the budget recap. Prior referendum results (July 14, 2026) — cited repeatedly as the reason the third iteration of the budget included additional reductions.