Westhampton Beach Village Explores Breaking State Cap

Following in the footsteps of the Village of Quogue, officials of the Village of Westhampton Beach are considering adopting a local law that will allow them to go over the state's two percent tax cap.

Village Clerk Rebecca Molinaro made the recommendation saying that it is only a precautionary measure and that the village does not anticipate piercing the cap.

"If we don't have a local law in place and we go over the cap, even if by a pennies, we won't have the ability to recoup," she said.

Village trustees agreed that it is best to heed on the side of caution.

"I think this is something we have to do," said Trustee Hank Tucker.  "If we don't, then we can't override and then we have a bigger problem."

The Village of Quogue held the same discussion in January and adopted a local law on Wednesday afternoon, which allows the village to go over the two-percent cap in the next fiscal year.