This week we learned the final numbers for the 2009-2010 Sag Harbor School District budget, and though we know times are tough financially for schools and taxpayers alike these days, we feel the school board has come up with a fair and reasonable spending plan.

The proposed budget is $29.5 million and it’s something the administration has clearly labored over for months. We feel the board has taken into consideration an array of concerns from different community organizations and individuals who attended meetings related to the budget in recent months, and the board has remained flexible.

We also understand the board has had to take into consideration the current dismal state of the economy and, as witnesses from the front row, no one can say board members have not done their homework in putting together a well thought out package.

When school superintendent Dr. John Gratto visited the Noyac Civic Council meeting to explain portions of the school budget, it was very well measured. Dr. Gratto’s presentation initiated discussions with the civic council on intelligent cost-saving measures, including the purchase of a bus and van which, in the years to come, will allow the district to cut the costs of some transportation services provided by an outside company. Other measures considered spoke to the concerns of residents in the district, including the decision to cut services purchased from BOCES.

And while $29.5 million is not an insignificant amount of money, remember this: this May, should the budget fail to pass after two public votes, the district’s contingency budget would automatically be enacted. The amount of the contingency budget is just $200,000 less than the proposed budget — which equates to a tax savings of $35 a year on the average $1 million property.

As taxpayers, we don’t want to get hit with a huge increase in these troubled times. As parents, we don’t want to see deep cuts to programs for our local school kids. We feel this school board has done a very admirable job in serving both sets of constituencies.

 

 

By Marissa Maier

The Sag Harbor Village Board of Trustees and the village department heads rolled up their sleeves last Friday, March 20, and pored over a tentative draft of the village budget for 2009 to 2010 totaling $7.4 million. The meeting was the first in a series the village will hold before finalizing the budget and hosting a public hearing.

Anticipating a budgetary shortfall in fall 2008, Sag Harbor Village Mayor Greg Ferraris asked each department to tighten their belts, avoid expensive and large purchases and “do more with less.”

Village treasurer Eileen Tuohy attributed the $215,000 shortfall to a decrease in non-real property tax revenue. Non-real property tax funds are collected from building permit receipts, dock slip receipts, state aid, and interest from the village savings account, among other sources. With interest rates at their lowest level in years, coupled with a decrease in dock receipts and rising contractual obligations, the village has been forced to economize.

Tuohy hopes continued austerity spending will help the village “break even” in the coming fiscal year. As the trustees analyzed the draft budget line-by-line, Ferraris said, “This is a pretty bare bones budget. We made cuts everywhere we could.”

Some village departments, like the police department and the highway department, are slashing spending through attrition. While Ed Downes, president of the Sag Harbor Ambulance Corps, is holding off on his long term goal of purchasing a third ambulance vehicle, he still must purchase new medical supplies every year.

In the building department, building inspector Tim Platt was able to decrease the overall budget for code enforcement, but said new costs will be incurred because New York State will no longer pay for new code books or training for code personnel. Trustee Tiffany Scarlato said monies paid by the building department for application consultant fees will now be paid out of the planning board and zoning board of appeals budget. In discussing additional costs, Ferraris added that a majority of the police department personnel are at the highest salary step.

Although he commended the departments for their work in paring down the budget, Ferraris said, “If there are items you really need tell us.”

For the fiscal year 2009 to 2010 the projected general fund budget is $7,444,557.68 and the projected tax rate is .002638 percent, although these figures and rates are subject to change. Under the current tax rate of .002605 percent, the owner of a home assessed at $1 million pays approximately $2,605 for village property taxes. If the budget were adopted as it currently stands today, the same homeowner would pay $2,638 in taxes.

“These numbers are subject to change. This is just a preliminary draft and more changes will be made [and presented] this Friday [March 27],” said Tuohy. “[The board] is working very hard to keep [the tax rate] at a very minimal increase.”

Tuohy added that the village fire department still has to present its budget to the board. The next meeting on the tentative budget will be held on Friday, March 27, at 4 p.m. in Sag Harbor Village Hall.

Sagaponack Village Budget

On Monday at Sagaponack Village Hall, the village board of trustees held a work session on their tentative budget, which mayor Don Louchheim presented last week during a regular monthly meeting.

The budget, proposed at $548,809, is just over $4,000 less than last year’s budget, which was $552,873.

A homeowner with a property assessed at $1 million can expect to pay $82.80 in taxes, down from $83.40 last year.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 13, at 4 p.m.

On Monday, at their regular board meeting, the Sagaponack board of trustees were given their first look at Mayor Don Louchheim’s tentative budget. The spending plan is expected to be just over half-a-million dollars and residents may be seeing a slight reduction in their property taxes if the tentative budget is adopted.
Louchheim gave his 2009-2010 budget message and during the presentation, announced that, despite the acquisition and renovation of the new village hall, there would be “no increase in the village tax rate, for the third year in a row.”
Further, Louchheim added, “village taxpayers will continue to pay no more in total property taxes than they would have if the village had not been incorporated.”
Total spending in the new budget is estimated at $548,809, down slightly from the $552,873 the year prior.
According to Louchheim, the new debt service costs from the village hall project “will be offset by lower, more realistic projections” of the net costs of the land use department, based on its first full year of operations.
He also noted that village voters approved borrowing up to $2 million for the project — but the total cost of the building was held at $1.5 million and the bond is expected to be less than $1 million.
Louchheim also explained for a home assessed at $1 million, it will cost a homeowner $82.80 in taxes, which is a slight reduction from $83.40 last year.
On Monday, Louchheim also announced projections for revenues other than property taxes including mortgage taxes, franchise taxes and other fees — which he said would be $283,350.
Louchheim said the amount expected to be raised by property taxes would be $265,459. According to the mayor, the tax levy also includes $100,000 to be added to a capital reserve fund for future road improvement projects, as has been done in the last two years.
“During the previous and current fiscal years the village has achieved operating surpluses, primarily as a result of higher than expected mortgage tax receipts,” said Louchheim. He said the bulk of these surplus funds will be used to reduce the amount borrowed for the village hall project.
Although village voters approved borrowing up to $2 million for the project, the total cost of the new village hall and renovations to the property were held at $1.5 million. According to Louchheim, the bond issue amount for the new village hall is expected to be no more than $1 million.
“The new budget includes a one-time expense of $37,000 in fees for the bond issue and a debt service cost of $74,854 for 2009-2010,” the mayor said. He added that until the bond is retired, the annual debt service amount will be “about the same.”
“So there should be no adverse debt service impact on future tax rates,” said the mayor.
In closing, Louchheim said he was proud of the young village government, which he added has achieved a “great deal in a short period of time.”
“We are fortunate to have truly involved and highly motivated residents on our board of trustees and two land use boards, as well as a talented, dedicated and enthusiastic administrative staff,” said Louchheim who told the trustees he believed they would find the budget to be fairly “straight forward.”
In the tentative budget, revenue from the building department is projected to be half of what was collected over 2008-2009. Likewise, mortgage tax revenue is also expected by the mayor to see a reduction of $122,620 over last year.
Trustee Alfred Kelman said the budget appeared to be a “superb analysis.”
On Monday, March 23, there will be a work session on the tentative budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, at 4 p.m. at village hall in Sagaponack.
In other Sagaponack news, the village hall is moving forward as planned. The building repairs and “touch-ups” have been completed, according to the mayor. The parking lot and the sidewalk were expected to be finished earlier this week.
Kelman said he visited the new site on Monday and joked that he engraved his initials into the sidewalk.
Village clerk Rhodi Winchell gave other updates for the new village hall and how it is progressing. She said the sprinkler and lawn are now completed, the fencing and floors have been re-done and the phone system has been ordered.
Louchheim said he is working on buying lumber and finishing a new table for the village hall.
The trustees also looked at some possible signage for the new building. Deputy Mayor Lee Foster showed a possible design of the new sign that would hang outside village hall along Montauk Highway.
Trustee Joy Sieger was concerned about the size of the lettering on the sign that was estimated to be four inches in height. She said motorists might have a hard time making out the wording.
Sieger also noted that a flag pole would need to be considered for their new hall.

The projected Sag Harbor school budget for next year is $29.5 million, a 3.3 percent increase over last year’s spending plan, although those numbers are not final.

The Sag Harbor school district’s budget advisory committee (BAC) has been meeting regularly to work on the 2009-2010 school budget to bring their recommendations to the board. On Monday, school superintendent Dr. John Gratto headed the meeting and said that he would be giving a “condensed version of the budget.”

Gratto explained that some of the major increases over last year’s budget include teacher salaries and the district’s contribution to the teacher retirement system. The district was required to estimate the increase in teacher salaries because teacher contract negotiations are still being hashed out.

The estimated increase for teacher salaries is just over $800,000, the teaching assistant salaries have an increase of $190,000 and the district’s contribution to the retirement system is estimated at an additional $40,763.

This year, the BAC also worked on reducing expenditures and cutting costs. In doing so, the committee shaved $278,825 from the BOCES contract by changing certain services provided by BOCES. Gratto also announced, that the school was able to save $126,549 by purchasing a bus and a van.

There was also $40,000 savings from the combination of the Athletic Director and Facility Manager positions and a $17,899 savings in a reduction for dental insurance costs.

In their findings, the BAC and the district administration also outlined that the estimated tax rate per $1,000 assessed value is a 5.78 percent increase for East Hampton ($660.80 to $699) and a 5.8 percent increase for Southampton residents ($4.03 to $4.26).

The draft budget also has a 2.5 percent buffer, adding approximately $600,000 for unforeseen expenditures.

That buffer became a point of contention at the meeting, when Mary Lynne Hess, BAC member, thought that it would not be enough of a cushion.

“We need to accrue for the retirement for next year,” she said.

But former school board president Walter Tice, a BAC member, said, “This is one of those unusual years, the amount is uncertain from this year to next year’s budget.”

School board member Mary Anne Miller said that some school districts go up to eight percent, which is highly controversial in those areas, but the state comptrollers recommend at the most, an increase of four percent. Gratto said that he thought the 2.5 percent “buffer” is a good compromise.

Chuck Neuman, president of the Noyac Civic Council, said that he was concerned about covering the costs of retirement. 

“Len [Bernard, business manager for the district] and I did a cost analysis for retirement,” Gratto said, “but we don’t have that many teachers at the age of retirement.”

These preliminary numbers will be presented to the board of education on February 23, leaving an entire month for the board to make changes before it needs to be finalized.

Also during Monday’s meeting, BAC member Sandy Kruel asked the superintendent about a rumor that the district was canceling its participation in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Gratto replied that “it is not false,” and informed the room that he sent a letter to the organization in an effort to save $5,000 — the membership fee.

Gratto said that could change, now that he has received feedback from others.

“Now I’ve been hearing what a terrible decision that was,” he said.

Kruel said that it is a “great program,” and that the organization offers a scholarship of nearly $30,000 to one graduating senior from the school — every year.

“I can reverse that decision,” Gratto said.

But Noyac resident and BAC member Elena Loreto was not in favor of keeping the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in the school.

“I think it is a great thing, that is $5,000 we can use somewhere else,” said Loreto.

 

 

 

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman presented some pretty grim news to the Sag Harbor Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) to the Town of Southampton on Friday, January 9. Schneiderman updated the CAC on the state of the county budget and legislative reforms for housing county sex offenders.
Schneiderman was a member of the budget working group that finalized the county’s 2009 budget. Nearly $1.2 billion of the county’s $3 billion yearly budget is garnered from sales tax. The budgetary group had predicted that sales tax revenues would increase by one percent for this fiscal year, but Schneiderman believes it will shrink for the first time since he was elected to the county legislature.
“Ten years ago, [sales tax revenues] were growing by seven or eight percent a year,” Schneiderman told the CAC. “[This year] there may be less goods sold than the year before and that would be devastating to the county in terms of delivering services.
This year, Schneiderman’s office reduced the number of grants it awards to various community organizations. Schneiderman’s grant money was decreased by almost $65,000. He focused his funding on organizations that provide necessities, like the Sag Harbor Food Pantry.
“I tried to focus on groups that do relief work, so some of the historical societies and beautification groups have lost their money,” said Schneiderman on Monday. He added that these relief groups augment the strain on the county by providing services to needy members of the community.
Schneiderman also discussed with the CAC two pieces of legislation related to housing homeless sex offenders, which he is trying to pass in the county legislature.
Currently, all homeless Suffolk County sex offenders who require emergency evening housing are taken to a trailer in the parking lot of the county jail in Riverhead. Nightly, the trailer houses some 20 level II and level III sex offenders. Level III sex offenders present the highest risk and are considered the most likely to re-offend. Schneiderman has received claims from members of the Riverhead community that these sex offenders have been seen wandering throughout the town and reportedly near areas where children gather. By law, a convicted sex offender is required to stay beyond 500 feet of a school, playground or daycare center.
The first of Schneiderman’s proposed legislations would require that no more than four homeless sex offenders are housed in any given trailer without a monitoring program. If the number exceeds four, then offenders would be given a tracking device or would be chaperoned if they want to leave the premises at any point during the evening.
The second piece of legislation calls for the facility at Riverhead to house only sex offenders from the five East End towns. The other sex offenders, proposes Schneiderman, should be sent to a trailer set up at their nearest police precinct. There are seven precincts in the county, and Schneiderman noted with his legislation, there would be a total of eight trailers in the county.
Schneiderman drafted both pieces of legislation hoping that the county legislature will choose one as a solution to this situation.
“It’s not that we shouldn’t be compassionate, but you really don’t want these individuals near your children,” said Schneiderman. “Some of their victims are young children.”
The Sag Harbor CAC members agreed that the second piece of legislation was better. CAC member Eric Cohen wondered if the first piece of legislation, which is designed to hinder the movement of these sex offenders who have already completed their jail time, would present certain issues of legality.

Above: Jay Schneiderman speaks with Sag Harbor CAC member Shauna Conran on the County’s finances. 

The Southampton Town board started their Tuesday night board meeting by giving what supervisor Linda Kabot described as “belated awards” to honor three local citizens for their work in transportation improvement.

The awards were given to Rich Warren, Ann LaWall and Buzz Schwenk in honor of their hard work along County Road 39 in Southampton. In the same evening, the town board discussed their 2009 tentative budget, and how they will deal with what Kabot has called, “a year where many will be under tremendous financial constraints.”

Last Friday a public hearing was held for the $82 million preliminary budget proposed by Kabot. The tentative budget proposes a five-percent increase in tax levies for Southampton town and using “rainy day” funds to relieve this tax increase. Kabot praised fellow board members for using a “big red marker” and for “sharpening their pencils” to create cuts to possibly give the town greater tax relief. But members of the community came to the hearing to talk about cuts to certain human service departments.

Doctor Larry Weiss, Vice President for Programs at Family Service League, spoke about his concern for cuts to the human service departments within the town. He first thanked the board for their help in providing funding, particularly for the youth within the town in need of family counseling. He explained that the funding his organization has received in the past was upwards of $100,000 a year for mental health, and this funding provided for a very successful program for the children in the community.

“As I understand, it is not included in the 2009 proposed budget, and I urge you to consider the impact on the emotional well-being of children and their families, and the mental services they need,” Weiss said on Friday.

Christopher Halucha, also from the Family Service League, spoke about the importance of funding social services.

“The statistics show that 1 out of 10 children have a serious mental illness,” he said. “And only 30 percent of those children in the country graduate with a high school diploma. If you look at the statistics for Southampton, they are pretty comparable – they don’t go outside the norm.”

Halucha added that his organization provides the youth of the community the mental health services it needs.

“There is an extremely long waiting list,” he said.

Halucha also relayed an experience that he had earlier this year. He told the board that his car was stolen and when he reported it, six police cars responded. He then explained that the unknown person who stole the car, if caught, would then have to use the police and judicial systems. But, Halucha argues, if youth are offered counseling, they may not resort to crime in the first place. Ultimately, he said, it is costing the town more money to take funding away from these services.

At Tuesday night’s town board meeting, Elizabeth Yennie from The Retreat, a non-profit organization that helps women and children escape domestically violent situations, explained that a cut in funding of $2,000 from the town, even though it is not much, makes a huge difference to her organization. She said a few years ago The Retreat was at 80 percent capacity, but this year, they are at 100 percent capacity.

“A cut of $2,000 is a lot of money — it’s four months of someone getting counseling,” she said. 

Kabot said there are no straight line cuts. She said the cuts are coming from an annual grant program that allows $100,000 for health and human service agencies. Kabot said that in the last two years, the town was even able to increase this amount to $150,000. She also said that there are two things that increase during a financially stressful time: public safety needs due to stresses and the need for social services and the prevention of violence in families.

Councilwoman Anna Throne-Holst, who is the human service liaison for the town board, said that the program is a vital service to the community.

“We are working with the community service department,” said Throne-Holst. “And I know how hard it is considering how broke our health care is.”

But she assured Yennie, “I will fight for this.”

Kabot said that the 2009 budget includes cuts to certain contracts and programs where the board has proposed to cut back some funding.

“For recipients for these services for families, that relationship has been a worthwhile pursuit and tough decisions have to be made,” she said. 

At Friday’s hearing, Kabot said that the number of employees at town hall seems to be increasing by about 15 people per year, and she along with other board members will be looking at freezing vacancies for 2009. Kabot also commended department heads for offering cuts and volunteering to cut back additional expenses.

 

By Kathryn G. Menu and Melissa Lynch

Just two weeks before East Hampton residents will have the opportunity to formally comment on a proposed 18 percent tax increase for 2009, the town’s board unanimously chose this week not to accept a raise in pay this year.
“This was a board decision, not just a decision made by me,” said East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill McGintee on Wednesday.
The proposed spending plan of $67 million for the 2009 fiscal year includes a contractual 4.75 percent salary increase for union employees. In his budget proposal, McGintee noted that salary increases were extended to non-union and elected officials at a 3.75 percent rate.
While the proposed budget represents an almost $8 million drop from the approved 2008 budget of $75 million, residents in the town are still looking at a hefty tax increase of 18 percent, with those living in the village looking at a 28 percent tax increase.
Last week, some residents expressed concern over spending in town hall, and aksed that projects like the conversion of historic structures into town hall be halted in the face of an economic downturn and a projected $15 million deficit in the town by the close of 2009.
Rhoda Bation, an East Hampton resident, sharply criticized the board for even considering raises for themselves.
“Times are so difficult,” she said. “Can you tell me how you can justify giving yourself raises of just under five percent?”
At the time, McGintee responded to Bation that traditionally non-union employees are extended the same raise as those negotiated with union employees. However, during Tuesday’s work session, the board agreed not to extend the raises to the board, saving an estimated $12,000. Town board members are currently paid about $60,000, while the supervisor makes just over $95,000. Other non-union employees are still slated to receive a raise.
McGintee said on Wednesday, the move was a “good faith” effort on the part of the board to show taxpayers it is trying to curb spending where it can.
“It was a decision that we made amongst ourselves some time ago,” said board member Brad Loewen on Wednesday. “We recognized the dire straits we were in. We considered that we were willing to do this as a good faith gesture and stand in solidarity with our citizens.”
“We need to show people that we are with them in all of this,” said board member Julia Prince on Wednesday. “Honestly, if the board had agreed to take the raises, I would have placed mine in an escrow account and donated it to one of the organizations whose funding is getting cut.”
The proposed budget does have a series of cuts in funding for organizations like Project MOST — the town’s after school program — and East Hampton Day Care. According to Prince, on Tuesday, small cuts continued, although she cautioned it is her belief that historically under-funded budgets are to blame, in part, for the fiscal crisis the town currently finds itself mired in.
“We have to be realistic because not being realistic is how we got here,” said Prince, who said the board is receiving monthly reports from department heads, making spending more easily controllable. “Why should we leave it to the state comptroller to come back to us and say, you completely under-funded your budget. We are the elected officials, we should do what is right.”
McGintee agreed that cost cutting measures are necessary, but that the board should be careful.
“At the next meeting you will see that some may say the budgetary increases are too much, but at the same meeting I will have people saying there is not enough money,” said McGintee. “You can’t win no matter what you do in this situation.”

More than two dozen teachers filled the Pierson High School library at Monday night’s Sag Harbor Board of Education meeting. They were there to prove to the board they are serious about getting new contracts.
The teachers, wearing black shirts and buttons reading, “Wanted Teacher Contracts,” sat through a presentation by state assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and talks on service learning before voicing concerns about the way contract negotiations are going — or rather, not.
Earlier this year, the Teachers Association of Sag Harbor (TASH) declared an impasse in negotiations. They asked for a mediator to help the board, school superintendent and TASH come to agreement about specific pieces of the contract – including salaries.
“There is no sense of urgency on your part to settle a contract almost four months after the last contract expired,” said TASH president Eileen Kochanasz on Monday night. “For us that’s just not right.”
Kochanasz, a guidance counselor at the high school, explained that at the last board meeting on September 23, the school board asked its attorney, Tom Volz, to collect further data about salaries in other districts in the area. She questioned why no meeting date had since been set to further discussions. The board maintains that Volz has yet to submit the needed data.
Kochanasz added that this is the second consecutive time that contract negotiations have failed to be completed in a timely manner.
“Is this efficient bargaining of a school?” she asked. “Am I to infer that your staff is not important to you?”
“The representative for the teachers association as well as three of the other bargaining units were unavailable from February to April,” countered board member Ed Hayes. “So no negotiations took place during that period and that is not our fault.”
“I disagree,” Kochanasz said, “We had six meetings between February and May.” She maintained that there were extensive meetings before impasse was called and added that the board had four years to collect the necessary data.
“We have asked for more information and it’s an ongoing process,” said board member Theresa Samot, who was sitting in for board president Walter Wilcoxen, who was absent. “We do appreciate the work that you do.”
TASH member Jim Kinnier noted that though bargaining began in February, the team had been ready to sit down at the table since last October.
“We will be willing to meet once a week starting this week,” Kinnier added on Monday.
But the board was not yet ready to commit to a start date for further talks.
“I talked to Tom Volz today. I can’t give you a definite date,” said superintendent Dr. John Gratto. “I could have an answer tomorrow. I expect [the next meeting] will be late October or early November.”
As of yesterday morning, Wednesday, Gratto said that Volz had not yet been able to get back to him.
“Once he finishes the analysis, we should hear back from him,” said Gratto.
Price Freeze
Gratto also announced at the meeting that the district would put a freeze of $100,000 on some supplies, professional development and conferences for certain departments.
Gratto explained that with the economy struggling and the rising cost of oil that wasn’t budgeted for last year, the school needed to reduce costs in other areas.
“We need to cut back on these things rather than scramble for money mid-year,” said Gratto, who maintains that the cuts would not affect the students.
But Chris Tice, president of the PTA, did not agree.
“I would caution that everything you mentioned does impact the kids,” said Tice who noted that cuts in the realm of staff development ultimately do affect students.
Technology Grant
State Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. was at Monday night’s meeting to receive a formal thank you for a $5,000 grant he helped secure for new technology at the school.
Thiele also took the opportunity to talk to parents, teachers and administrators about proposed tax relief legislation that would offer a tax cap of four percent on property tax increase.

On September 16, residents in the Sag Harbor School District will vote on the spending plan for the John Jermain Memorial Library, as well as three seats up for grabs in this year’s library board of trustee contest.

According to John Jermain Memorial Library Director Catherine Creedon, the current trustees whose seats are up for election – current library board president Christiane Neuville, trustee Theresa Ameres and trustee Susan Merrell – will all seek to keep their places on the board.

This year’s proposed library budget is for $989,580, a 9.26 percent increase from last year’s approved spending plan of $905,700. According to Creedon, while the library’s projected budget does show an increase, it is not an increase in spending for children’s books was not factored into last year’s budget and projected costs for fuel did not meet the library’s demand. In this spending plan, purchasing for the children’s section of the library is back in the budget, and the library is attempting to accurately predict what it will spend in fuel and not under-budget for a second fiscal year.

“It costs about $1000 a week during the coldest part of the year to heat this building,” noted Creedon.

She added that other increases in the budget could be attributed to increases in the cost of benefits and health insurance for existing employees at the library. Health insurance premiums are up 12 percent from last year, she said.

“Of our 20 employees, 17 or 18 live in Sag Harbor,” noted Creedon when discussing the rise in costs for employee benefits and health insurance. “At least seven of them went through the Sag Harbor schools, so I really think we are a community library in that sense as well. I am always mindful of that when I think about benefits for our staff. It actually benefits our community more directly than our up-island counterparts who don’t have this same dynamic.”

There are also minimal rises in material costs, said Creedon, and administrative costs are up about $15,000. Last year, she noted, the required annual audit of the library was not factored into the budget. Computer related expenses are also up about $7000.

Petitions for trustee seats are available at the Sag Harbor School District clerk’s office and at the library. Petitions must be submitted to the district clerk by 4 p.m. on August 18 and must have 25 signatures from registered voters in the district.

Above: The John Jermain Memorial Library. (r. odell-shapiro photo)