Sarcastic Salvos: Terenzi Returns to Old Form During Budget Meeting

After listening to almost an hour of talk about tax levies and fund balances, most of the dozen or so residents who turned out to Monday night's budget meeting sagged in their chairs or propped themselves on their elbows, waiting for their chance to speak.

Some trustees even stared off into space as Village Manager Christopher Russo flipped through a presentation of graphs, pie charts and number-heavy lists.

But Trustee Sam Terenzi, an accountant in his day job, was not put to sleep by the numbers. He listened attentively, until he heard Russo utter the words he'd been waiting for.

"...fourteen percent tax rate increase..."

"I don't think I heard you say that!" a delighted Terenzi said, interrupting Russo. "You started mumbling over that number a little bit."

A handful of residents suddenly perked up, chuckling.

The proposed $36 million budget -- a hike of more than $1.2 million over this year's budget -- would result in a small tax levy increase, but an effective 14.7 percent tax rate increase. That was the point Terenzi kept driving home during the first budget meeting of a nearly month-long process.

"You keep evading the issue, Chris," Terenzi said in a subsequent exchange. "It's the tax rate, not the tax levy."

Despite the absence of Mayor Dennis Pilla, Terenzi's , Monday's meeting marked the first time in months that the Republican trustee launched into his trademark outbursts.

"Over the last couple of months, I have toned down my style. I didn't want to interfere with the mayoral campaign," Terenzi explained this weekend in a on Port Chester Patch. "I wanted to make sure there was a level playing field and not distract from the issues that were being discussed during the campaign."

Since voters chose to give Pilla in last month's mayoral election and most of the campaign signs have been plucked from village lawns, some board members have fallen back to the familiar political territory they occupied before the campaign. For Terenzi, that means often being the loudest -- and most sarcastic -- voice among the board's four-vote Republican-Conservative bloc.

While other board members and a visiting county legislator were quick to blame New York State for Port Chester's cash woes, Terenzi instead elected to keep hammering Russo, who trails only Pilla as the . Unlike Pilla, Russo rarely retorts; usually, he picks up where he left off, ignoring Terenzi's interruptions.

Later in the meeting, Terenzi asked Russo to talk him through an alternate plan that would avoid an immediate tax increase by shifting long-term debt. Terenzi cut in again, turning to the people in the small courtroom.

"Chris went to the same creative accounting course that I went to in 1978," Terenzi said. "I don't think he passed, though."

The last time Terenzi gave Russo an earful, it was after a series of meetings where he'd other high-visibility employees, including former Recreation Superintendent Thomas Hroncich and Treasurer Leonie Douglas. In late August, barely two months into the new board's term, , describing the trustee's style as "disgusting" and "embarassing."

This time around, there was no sign of that outrage: not only has it been months since the community has seen a Terenzian outburst, but the general tone of the residents indicated most agreed with the Republican trustee, even if they don't agree with his self-described "style."

"The minimum this board needs to do is make sure that the average house does not have a $216 increase," said Richard Abel, a resident and publisher of the Westmore News. "Whether or not you can get it down 14 percent, as John [Branca] said, might be a disservice to the community as a whole and might be a gutting of services."

As Russo closed the last slide on his presentation Monday night, another trustee thanked the manager for his report, and Terenzi saw an opportunity for one last bit of sarcasm.

"Thank you," Terenzi said, "for the 15 percent increase, Mr. Russo."

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