Town Budget Unveiled
At this week's work session, the Town Board released its proposed budget for 2026 and scheduled a public hearing for residents to discuss it on Wednesday, October 15th at 6pm.
The board is proposing to increase the town's budget next year by 2.25% while keeping it under the town's 2.9% tax cap.
The proposed budget is able to remain under the tax cap in part because of decisions the Board made about how much taxpayer money to provide to the Putnam Valley Volunteer Fire Department next year. The proposed budget shows the department receiving $1,186,100 in 2026 from tax revenues, or $398,030 less than it is budgeted to receive this year. The Board is also proposing to use $450,000 from the fund balance it has set aside to support the Fire Department. At the end of last year, that fund balance was $2.8 million.
If approved as presented, some of the other main drivers of next year's budget are:
• The addition of an estimated $240,000 in sales tax revenue that is being shared with the town by Putnam County, thanks to this year's historic agreement
• An estimated $25,000 in new revenue from regulating short term rentals
• An estimated increase in real property taxes of $314,790
• A draw down of $890,500 from the town's fund balance
After acknowledging increases in labor costs and unfunded state mandates, Town Board members expressed satisfaction that they had come up with a way to cover the town's necessary expenses without triggering a significant increase in taxes. "This gives the community everything it wants," said Supervisor Jacqueline Annabi at the work session. "We're not losing any services and this is need-based, not want-based. It's a great budget."
For anyone wishing to scrutinize the numbers more closely, the tentative budget can be found by scrolling down on the town's home page: https://www.putnamvalley.gov/
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