Village of Manorhaven Mayor John Popoleski falsely claimed Wednesday that the Port Washington Times published wrong budget information in a recent story, singling out the author of the story and pointing her out during a Board of Trustees meeting.

“This whole article is bogus. It’s 100% wrong,” Popeleski said. “The editor or the, newspaper reporter, should have contacted me, because we are not at a 5.6 increase. We are under our tax cap, which is 1.9%. And also, this article doesn’t even discuss about the other revenues that we get in this village, which is rental registration, which is also our village justice.”

Popeleski also said the story was a political tactic of former Mayor Jim Avena and part of “the smear campaign that the Dejanas won.” The reporter has never been in contact with either Avena or Peter Dejana, a Manhorhaven businessman and philanthropist.

Popeleski has since spoken with the reporter and confirmed that the information included in the story is correct. He was offered the opportunity to provide comment about the incident and has yet to do so.

The reporter recorded the audio of the meeting, which is permitted under state law, and can be listened to or read via transcription.

The story, which appeared in the March 17 issue of the Port Washington Times and was published on theisland360.com website, does not state that Manorhaven’s taxes are increasing or decreasing.

The original story states: “The tentative budget documents do not include a breakdown of...

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