The Board of Trustees of the Village of Massapequa Park, during its regular March 13 meeting, scheduled several public hearings, including one to consider doing away with automatic pay increases for village officials.

The hearing will be held during the village board meeting of March 27, and will review a plan to amend Chapter 50, Salaries and Compensation of the Village Code of Ordinances, in order to eliminate the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases for elected and appointed officials. In the past, the CPI increase has automatically increased the rate of pay in line with inflation. This administration chose to forfeit the benefit last year, as a gesture of good faith while officials hammered out a budget that included a tax increase.

"This board feels that if this board wants to come to you for a raise, we are going to come to you and tell you why," Mayor Camillo Giannattasio said in announcing the plan last Monday.

Also during the meeting, the board approved an increase in fees for village services, each by about $25 or $50. "Basically, we've raised the fees following the lead of the Town of Oyster Bay," said Giannattasio, noting that, like the town, the village wanted to make the fee schedule more up to date. He added, "We wanted to take the position that the taxpayer should not subsidize the costs of particular services." That initiative was not criticized during the public comment period, which was dominated by a discussion of illegal apartments in the village.

A local resident, who said she has been complaining to the village about illegal apartments in her neighborhood for 15 years, said there are now five of them on her block. "I moved into Massapequa Park. I didn't want to live in the city," she said, adding that it is unfair for homeowners to foot the bill for the services which illegal renters use, but do not pay taxes for, such as garbage and public schools.

Mayor Giannattasio responded that this is an issue that the village board is currently looking at, and one which it will have to make a decision on within the next few years. "For years, this village has had a policy of benign neglect," he said. "This is an issue that has to be looked at." He added that the village is reviewing recommendations from the Planning Commission to tighten up the procedure for issuing permits for mother-daughter homes. A permit for a mother-daughter home, which allows a second kitchen, is intended for an apartment for a family member only. Under local legislation that may be considered, the village would require the applicants to appear and sign an affidavit attesting to this intended use.

Two other public hearings were also set. One is planned for March 27 and will consider the use of community development funds for the village's Rehabilitation Loans and Grants program, which is in its 26th year. The allocation of $200,000 is proposed for that program, which provides funds for local senior citizens to fix up their homes. An additional $50,000 in community development funds is proposed to install handicapped accessible curb cuts in the sidewalks south of Merrick Road in the village. The village plans to eventually install the cuts throughout the entire village, at a total anticipated cost of $600,000. The other public hearing was scheduled for April 24, and will consider a local law to allow residents over the age of 65 with a Senior Citizen Exemption to pay their village taxes in halves without penalty.