Petition seeks to disband Mastic Beach village

Some Mastic Beach residents say they no longer want their community to be an incorporated village. Michael McKenzie says he'd hoped incorporating six years ago would improve the community. "I figured

News 12 Staff

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Aug 30, 2016, 1:53 AM

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Updated 2,959 days ago

Some Mastic Beach residents say they no longer want their community to be an incorporated village.

Michael McKenzie says he'd hoped incorporating six years ago would improve the community.

"I figured it would be safer and nicer around here," he says. "But it turned out to be a nightmare."

Now, without the Town of Brookhaven's support on municipal issues, residents say their quality of life is actually decreasing.

"Mastic Beach has since...its road-paving projects have sort of suffered for it and a lot of other things," says resident Ian Tulley.

On top of that, he says his taxes have also gone up. The village disputes that claim, at least for now. The mayor proposed a 125 percent tax increase at a village meeting in June.

"Taxes will have to go up," says mayor Maura Spery. "People have to understand that, if they want an additional layer of government. A village is a fifth layer of government. It has to be funded."

Supporters of dissolving the village say they will deliver a petition to disband to the village clerk on Tuesday.

Some residents say they opposed incorporating initially but now want to stick with it.

"You just can't expect it to be perfect," says Alan Chasinov, another resident. "Yes there were mistakes, and we'll recover from that."