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 village staff member handling budget detail, flagged the variability in some revenue lines and said the village will continue to refine forecasts before the tentative budget is filed.

On the expense side staff proposed a series of targeted adjustments rather than large programmatic expansions. Items discussed included: - A proposed $1,000 annual stipend for the deputy mayor to be paid pro rata over the year; - Salary adjustments for administrative staff, including a proposed increase in Don’s salary to $75,000 based on a local-market review; - Carryover and residual costs tied to a possible court closure (staff modeled a partial-year continuation of some court-related payroll and one month of court security); - A modest increase in insurance and utility estimates for building and department accounts; and - One-time capital and equipment requests, including cybersecurity and network-switch upgrades, replacement and reconfiguration of DPW vehicles and one proposed new plow truck procurement.

Water and sewer capital projects were central to the conversation. Staff reported work on the “South End” water/sewer project is underway and that federal/state and EFC funding already awarded requires the village to move the work forward before the village could successfully apply for additional, separate grants for related phases. Creighton Manning (engineering) and outside contractors have performed camera inspections on sewer mains; early results showed an 8-inch constriction in a run otherwise sized at 12 inches, a condition staff said could require a line replacement that staff estimated in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. The trustees asked staff to continue sending regular project status updates and to identify funding strategies (grants, reserves or bonding) for any required repairs.

Trustees also discussed the village’s sanitary-sewer contract with “Colony” (as referenced in the workshop). Staff described recent inspections and the need to reopen contract talks with that partner to address flow, capacity and cost-sharing; they noted the village had not accepted a proposed higher per-unit charge from Colony and would pursue further negotiation backed by inspection data.

Police, fire and DPW budgets were reviewed line by line. Highlights included separate lines for special-events overtime, discussions about continuing grant-funded public-safety equipment purchases (which create matching revenue on the income side) and several requests for fire and DPW equipment. DPW staff said they are preparing to replace at least one dump truck (staff cited an estimated chassis cost of roughly $60,000 plus upfits) and to keep a capital plan for plow- and salt-related spending. Salt and disposal costs were noted as rising sharply in the past year, and trustees asked staff to track vendor invoices and timing carefully.

Process and schedule: staff recommended presenting a tentative budget to the board on March 17, holding a public hearing on April 7 and completing the adoption process before the statutory deadlines in April. Trustees agreed to continue refining numbers and to circulate a revised draft before Monday’s meeting so that board members could offer corrections and suggestions in time for the public hearing.

Votes at a glance: the workshop is an informational session; the only formal recorded action in the transcript was a motion to adjourn at the end of the meeting. That motion was seconded and approved.

Next steps: staff will return a revised budget with corrected year-to-date actuals, clarified transfers and updated revenue estimates to the trustees before the March 17 presentation. Trustees asked staff to produce a clear list of transfers or prior-year amendments that explain differences between the proposed adopted amounts and year-to-date budget status reports.