"As the Mayor and Chief Budget Officer of East Hills, I am proud to announce that for a 16th year in a row, the budget contains an unprecedented zero tax increase for our residents."
That's Mayor Michael Koblenz, as quoted by Long Island Press in its report on the message accompanying the village's newly adopted $15.2 million budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. It's a genuinely rare streak. Buyers may also want to understand how village services are provided and whether a particular home connects to a sewer.
One Village, Four Tax Bills
Most buyers meet East Hills through a Roslyn mailing address and treat it like a neighborhood. It isn't. East Hills is its own incorporated municipal government, with a mayor, a board of trustees, its own building department, and its own assessment roll, sitting inside the Town of North Hempstead for most of its footprint and inside the Town of Oyster Bay for a small northeastern section. That means a homeowner here pays Nassau County taxes, town taxes, school taxes, and a fourth line: the village tax.
By the village's own accounting, that fourth line is smaller than most people assume, running about 16 to 17 percent of the total property tax bill, with the bulk still going to schools. It's also a separate assessment. If you ever want to challenge the village's valuation of a house you own here, you file with the village directly, on its own calendar, not through the county grievance process most Long Islanders are used to. That distinction rarely comes up until someone tries to do it the county way and finds out the village runs its own clock.
How East Hills Funds Village Services
The 2026-27 budget totals $15,197,957, a slight decrease from the prior year's $15,243,731, with $9.14 million of that raised through property taxes, up modestly from about $9.07 million the year before. The village carries a high bond rating from Moody's and came through a New York State Comptroller fiscal stress test in good standing.
Most incorporated villages that run their own uniformed police department watch that single line item drive their budgets upward year after year, since salaries, benefits, and equipment for a full department are the most expensive and least controllable cost a small municipality can carry. East Hills doesn't run one. It pays the Nassau County Police Department a fee for coverage instead. Fire protection works the same way: rather than a village fire department, East Hills contracts with two volunteer companies, Roslyn Highlands and Roslyn Rescue, for a combined bill exceeding $1 million a year. Both are real costs, but they're costs the village buys as a service rather than a payroll it staffs itself.
Here's roughly where the money actually goes, and where it doesn't:
| Funded directly by the village tax | Paid for another way |
|---|---|
| Roads, paving, and snow removal (DPW) | Police protection (fee to Nassau County Police) |
| Sanitation and recycling, three pickups a week | Fire protection (contract with Roslyn Highlands and Roslyn Rescue) |
| The Park at East Hills: pool, tennis and pickleball courts, dog parks, playground | Public schools (separate school district tax bill) |
| A village security patrol | Sanitary sewer service for most homes (see below) |
| Justice Court administration |
The sewer entry on the right points to a separate question: what is actually connected to the house.
Sewer Service and Private Systems
The overwhelming majority of East Hills properties are not connected to a sanitary sewer system. They rely on cesspools or septic systems instead, the same as much of the rest of Nassau County's North Shore. A regional sewer plan drawn up in the 1970s would have eventually brought municipal sewer service to much of northwestern Nassau, with East Hills slated for a later phase of that build-out, but the plan was shelved before it reached the village. Only a limited number of properties connect to the Nassau County sewer network at all, through what's known locally as the East Hills Interceptor line. Everyone else's wastewater is managed by a private system that lives on the lot, not a utility that transfers automatically when the deed does.
For a buyer, the septic question in East Hills isn't a formality you skim past on the way to the more exciting parts of an inspection. On many streets, it's the inspection.
What to Actually Do With This at the Negotiating Table
- Before you schedule a general home inspection, find out whether the specific address connects to the East Hills Interceptor line or relies on a private cesspool or septic system. The village's building department can confirm this, and the answer determines who else you need to bring in.
- If the home is on a private system, ask the seller for pumping and service records. A system with no paperwork is a system you're buying blind, regardless of how the house shows.
- If you're planning renovations after closing, know that East Hills has moved most building permit applications to an online portal as of January 1, 2025, and that the village's Architectural Review Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Planning Board meeting calendars, not your closing date, set the real timeline for anything that touches the exterior of the house.
- According to the Village of East Hills' notices, mark your calendar for the village's own assessment grievance window, February 1 through the third Tuesday of that month, if you ever want to challenge the valuation. It runs separately from the county's process and on its own schedule.
- Treat the flat tax line as a budget vote taken fresh every year, not a permanent feature of the address. Sixteen years is a genuine record, but it's a record built one vote at a time, not a guarantee written into the deed.
Comparing Taxes and Services
When you put an East Hills listing next to a similarly priced home in a nearby hamlet with no village tax at all, compare the two addresses' tax bills, services, and infrastructure. East Hills has a village tax, a resident-only park, contracted rather than in-house police and fire coverage, and a village tax rate that has remained flat for 16 consecutive years. The other may have no village tax or separate park system of its own, and full municipal sewer service. Neither arrangement is better in the abstract. The comparison only means something once you know your own priorities and have checked what the specific lot is actually connected to, which is exactly the kind of question worth answering before you write an offer, not after the inspection contingency has already closed.
FAQ
Does every home in East Hills have a septic system? No. A limited number of properties connect to the Nassau County sewer network through the East Hills Interceptor line. Most rely on private cesspools or septic systems, so the answer depends on the specific address, not the village as a whole.
Is the village tax guaranteed to stay flat? No. The rate is set by an annual budget vote. It has not increased for 16 consecutive years through the 2026-27 fiscal year, according to the village's own budget message, but that streak reflects votes taken year to year rather than a fixed policy.
Who provides police and fire protection in East Hills? The village pays for coverage rather than running its own departments. Police protection comes from the Nassau County Police Department on a fee basis, and fire protection is contracted to the volunteer companies Roslyn Highlands and Roslyn Rescue.
When comparing East Hills with another North Shore address, consider the tax bill and services as well as the purchase price. If you're weighing a move here or trying to price a sale accurately against these specific trade-offs, the Farber Locke Team can walk you through what a particular address is actually connected to, tax-wise and otherwise, before you commit to an offer. Get Your Instant Home Valuation to start the conversation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
