From the office of Hempstead Town Clerk Mark Bonilla, Supervisor Kate Murray filed her proposed 2006 budget that she said would freeze all town taxes.

"The general town taxes levied in my 2006 proposal are actually less than the total general town taxes levied a decade ago," Murray said. "On average, a homeowner residing in an incorporated village will pay a total of $53 in town taxes for 2006. This budget is also excellent news for residents in unincorporated areas. Residents of these areas will pay no more to the town under my 2006 budget proposal than they did in 2005."

Coming on the heels of an increased credit rating, making the Town of Hempstead the highest rated municipality on all of Long Island, Murray said "This budget justifies the confidence of Wall Street credit rating agencies and the trust that neighbors have placed in our township."

Additionally, for the second year in a row, the entire document has been made available on the town's web site, www.TOH.LI.

"I am pleased that I can provide a high level of budget detail to all residents by posting my proposed budget on the Web," Murray added. "We still remain the first and only municipality to put our budget online. Our budgeting practices are completely transparent and readily accessible to each and every resident."

Stating the town is in "super solid shape," Murray attributed its success to hard work and a number of initiatives being put into place.

In 2003-4, Murray said the town downsized and cut costs. By instituting weekday swing shifts and weekend shifts, the supervisor said they have cut overtime costs by $3.2 million, which translates into a savings of 50 percent.

"We are a seven-day-a-week operation after all," Murray explained.

Aggressively pursuing grants and outside funding has also helped to reduce the local tax burden, according to Murray.

"Diligently accessing all available federal, state and other funding sources has resulted in great local upgrades while minimizing the property tax burden shouldered by our taxpayers," Murray said.

These grants have come about particularly in the environmental area, which Murray said, puts a very innovative program into effect.

"A couple of weeks ago we rolled out the first hybrid garbage truck fleet on Long Island," Murray said. "The cost for those five trucks will be totally satisfied by a $325,000 grant that we had received from the Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition."

Also, both Town Hall in Hempstead and the Conservation and Waterways facility have solar panels on the roof as an alternative fuel source.

"We received a $50,000 LIPA rebate because of the installation," Murray explained. "It's been win-win economically and environmentally."

Beginning with the 2006 proposed budget, Murray said the town is also proposing a $113 million bond initiative, which will be directed at improving local roads. This comes just after a $40 million parks improvement program that the town has just about completed.

"A very important aspect of running town government is making sure that our infrastructure stays as pristine as it possibly can," Murray said. "More remarkable, however, is the fact that the town has achieved unparalleled fiscal prosperity while maintaining services, improving parks, preserving open space, building affordable homes and beautifying downtowns."

Murray's Democratic opponent in this year's bid for Hempstead Town Supervisor Harvey Levinson said he was surprised to see that, in addition to the budget, the town is proposing a $113 million bond initiative to make infrastructure improvements.

"Many people in the unincorporated areas, such as Levittown and East Meadow, have been telling me that the roads are in poor condition," Levinson said. "Now I see that the proposal is to bond this. All of a sudden we're now facing a $113 million bond issue. That will have a substantial impact on people's taxes."

Levinson said he never heard the town make any comments about problems with roads or infrastructure prior to this.

"To me it represents poor planning at its worst," Levinson said. "The roads and the infrastructure in many cases are in sad shape. This should have, in my opinion, should have been planned years ago. All of a sudden when we raise taxes on the average home in the unincorporated area 15 percent in 2005, we're now talking about a bond issue. This is a particularly difficult time to go out with a bond because the interest rates have increased substantially in the past couple of months. No one knows how much this is really going to cost until they go out with the bond and what the interest rates are."

However, a spokesperson for Murray stated that there was a 12.8 percent increase in 2005, following five years of no increase in the unincorporated areas of the town.

The hearing on the 2006 proposed budget will take place at the Town Board Public Meeting on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Town Hall Plaza in the Nathan L.H. Bennett Pavillion. Town Hall is located at 1 Washington St. in Hempstead. For more information or to view the budget online, visit www.TOH.LI.