The Town of Huntington's preliminary 2026 budget calls for a 2.3% increase over the current budget, which translates to about a 2% tax hike for the average homeowner and wouldn't require town officials to pierce the tax cap, they said.

The average homeowner can expect a $12 increase in their tax bill for the four major funds: general, highway, part town, and refuse, Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said.

Smyth said the biggest challenge in creating the $245,334,906 budget was dealing with inflationary costs while managing to keep services the same without layoffs.

“Staying under the tax cap is an expectation that the residents have; that we’re going to spend their money wisely and certainly not overspend,” Smyth said. “This budget is under the tax cap, which is an objective measurement of fisca

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