Binghamton–Johnson City joint sewage board approves 2026 budget with targeted cuts and new study line

The Binghamton–Johnson City Joint Sewage Board on Wednesday approved its 2026 operating budget, adopting several owner amendments and adding a new engineering study line funded from the plant’s fund balance, the board announced at a 5:39 p.m. budget hearing on Sept. 11. The vote on the amended budget was recorded 9-0.

Board members said the amendments were intended to reflect more conservative staffing and contingency assumptions and to add a line for a sewer-credit study funded from reserves so the owners do not affect the operating levy. “We have to act on this budget by what date? … if we have enough people to vote and move it through,” Council member and owners’ representative said during the meeting as members agreed to proceed. The board took a series of roll-call votes to approve individual line-item changes before accepting the amended budget as a whole.

The board trimmed multiple personnel and operating lines during the meeting. Key amendments recorded in the meeting minutes and roll calls reduced an hourly salary-adjustment pool, lowered the overtime budget and reduced the contingency line. The board also approved a separate amendment increasing the capital line for a gas pump to $65,000 so the plant can replace aging gas-compression pumps sooner.

Owners repeatedly emphasized the need for realistic budget lines tied to what is likely to be spent. Several members pressed plant staff to return purchase orders or transfer requests when an identified capital need could be executed sooner using existing encumbrances or reserves. “If we adjust this year's budget and get you the money that you need to purchase one pump almost immediately, how much money do you actually need in next year's budget…?” one owner asked the plant superintendent.

The meeting record shows motions and roll-call votes for each amendment with final acceptance of the amended budget by a 9-0 roll call. The board also approved a motion to add an engineering line for a sewer-credit study to be funded from fund balance; the comptroller will set the line number and the owners agreed to an initial guidance of $100,000, with the option to adjust the amount later based on scope.

The board’s action sets the operating and capital spending limits for the wastewater treatment plant for 2026 and leaves several items — notably equipment lead times and major capital procurements — to be managed by plant staff and the comptroller through encumbrance and transfer processes.