Menands trustees outline $550,000 budget gap, propose 2.63% tax-rate increase to close shortfall

The Board of Trustees of the Village of Menands met for a budget workshop on March 13 at the municipal building, where staff and trustees reviewed proposed spending, identified a roughly $550,000 gap in the draft 2025–26 budget and outlined options — including using reserves and raising the municipal tax rate — to close it.

The village’s preliminary work papers show proposed fund revenues below planned expenses by about $550,000, prompting staff to present a combination of revenue updates, grant reimbursements and limited tax-rate increases to balance the plan. At the workshop officials discussed a draft tax rate of $9.37 per $1,000 of assessed value, which they said would represent a 2.63% increase compared with the current rate, though trustees stressed the rate had not been final and would be refined before any vote.

Trustees and staff discussed several revenue sources and cost changes that shape the gap: pilot payments and property-tax equivalents tied to local employers, revised estimates for state highway aid (CHIPS), a $250,000 building-improvement grant that staff expect to draw down in part during 2025–26, and cannabis sales tax receipts that staff described as uncertain because one licensee has not yet started regular payments. Mary Jane, a…