Weston staff present 2026 budget preview; residents question refuse fees, Kennedy Park funding and capital needs

Department heads presented a preliminary 2026 general‑fund budget and described priorities across public safety, public works, parks, planning and administration at a Village of Weston budget workshop on 2025-09-09. The session included resident public comments about refuse and recycling fees, the proposed Kennedy Park project and intergovernmental agreements with the Town of Weston.

Public commenter Cindy Russell said she was concerned that refuse and recycling fees had not been raised for years and that the village’s 2014 intergovernmental agreements with the Town of Weston lack automatic CPI adjustments. She urged the board to renegotiate those agreements, examine alternatives such as short‑term borrowing, redirect tax increment financing (TIF) revenues, or use the general fund balance rather than imposing new or higher fees on residents.

Staff presented department summaries and funding context: public works said it maintains 119 centerline miles and budgets roughly $1.5 million for summer street work and about $400,000 for winter maintenance; the department described state transportation aids as a significant funding source and said current estimates for 2026 aid are about $970,000. Parks staff said the village currently manages approximately 356 acres of parkland and that the Kennedy Park project underway will build two fields at an estimated $2.2 million; staff said those two fields are covered by fundraising, ARPA‑related assignments and donor funds and that additional work will proceed only as funds become available.

Planning and development staff said building activity is rising: the village is already processing about 66 new home permits for the year, roughly double last year’s total, increasing permitting revenue and workload. Staff described a planned Phase 2 of a comprehensive plan update that will require increased public engagement and an estimated budget increase of about $15,000 in planning costs.

On refuse and recycling, staff said the new multi‑year contract with Harter’s and rising material, labor and operational costs require a fee increase in the 2026 budget. The village has budgeted a carryover reserve for the refuse and recycling fund and is evaluating whether to use fund balance to smooth increases; staff said the fee under discussion will not exceed $2.10 per unit under current projections and proposed a staged increase alternative to avoid spending down reserves quickly.

Staff outlined technology, clerk and finance budgets: the village’s IT budget covers software licensing, GIS mapping, backups and a planned 7‑year device replacement schedule; the clerk’s office highlighted election costs (poll worker pay and absentee ballot postage) and licensing workloads; finance staff summarized general fund categories and said a 3% holding figure is being used for personnel and a 10% estimate for health insurance in preliminary budgets.

Trustees asked staff to post the full presentation to the budget page online and to provide additional detail on refuse fund balances and on the Kennedy Park funding breakdown. Staff said they will return refined figures in upcoming finance and budget hearings and that the board will receive ordinance and notice drafts for any items (such as a fire fee) that require public hearings in October.

Next steps: staff will post presentation materials online, provide further budget detail in finance committee meetings, and return with ordinance language and notice timelines if the board pursues fees or referendums.