Middletown Board approves budget transfers, grants, contracts and pay change; tables lien sale

The Middletown Board of Estimate on Jan. 2 approved a series of budget transfers, contract authorizations and grant acceptances, and voted to amend and approve a 2% pay increase for the Civil Service Commission secretary.

Why it matters: The votes move money between municipal accounts, accept grant funding for youth and public-safety programs, authorize a new contracted operator for water and wastewater services, and adjust a resident's water bill. Together the actions affect the municipal budget and service delivery for water, sanitation and community programs.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes (Jan. 2, 2025). Motion by Council President Rodriguez, seconded and approved unanimously.

- Item 3.1 — Water department transfer: Authorized transfer within the water department to cover a shortage, moving funds from water meters to materials and supplies (account referenced as 54 90 74). Motion by Council President Rodriguez; seconded; approved.

- Item 3.2 — Water budget transfer (2024): Authorized transfers in the 2024 water department budget to cover shortages, including $2,163 from latent heat to contractual services. Motion made and approved.

- Item 3.3 — Recreation department boiler repair: Authorized a $35,000 transfer from the A-60 health account to repairs for an emergency boiler repair. Motion made and approved. Mayor DeStefano and others discussed that Val Bruni proposed replacing a deteriorating hot-water system.

- Item 3.4 — Municipal solid waste contract: Approved a proposal from IWS for hauling and disposal of municipal solid waste in 2025. Per the board discussion the contract increases the per-ton rate from $87.54 to $89.92 and will have roughly a $30,000 impact on the 2025 budget. Motion by Council President Rodriguez; seconded; approved.

- Item 3.5 — Water department payroll and operating transfers: Authorized internal transfers in the 2024 water budget to cover pumping station distribution services ($14,000), pumping-station personal services to gas and oil ($7,000), and to cover year-end compensatory-time payouts for employees (union rules apply). Motion made and approved.

- Item 3.6 — Orange County Youth Bureau grant: Accepted $30,000 in 2025 grant funding from the Orange County Youth Bureau split as $10,000 for youth leadership, $10,000 for a junior police academy, and $10,000 for youth community outreach. Motion made and approved.

- Item 3.7 — DCJS National Night Out grant: Accepted a 2025 Department of Criminal Justice Services grant secured through Senator Skoufis for National Night Out Against Crime in the amount of $10,000; the chief confirmed this is the third year of the award. Motion made and approved.

- Item 3.8 — Anti-violence initiative grant: Accepted a grant award for the Middletown Police Department to participate in an anti-violence initiative. The board recorded an award of $150,000 for the period June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026, to be used for operating expenses, travel, equipment, property utilities and related costs to support gun-violence-prevention services. Motion made and approved.

- Item 3.9 — Civil Service Commission secretary pay: The board amended the agenda item language from “executive administrator” to “secretary to the Civil Service Commission” and approved a 2% pay increase (the item was applied retroactively to Jan. 1). Motion to amend and the pay increase motions were seconded and approved; one member who was absent did not vote on the pay increase.

- Item 3.10 — Agreement with HTO for water services management: Authorized an agreement with HTO for management of water services at the water and wastewater treatment plants and approved a transfer of $20,151.60 from the water and sewer fund to cover the contract price increase. The board discussed staffing and annual cost estimates during this item. Motion made and approved.

- Item 3.11 — Animal services agreement: Authorized an agreement with the Humane Society of Port Jervis in Deer Park; the board authorized the mayor to sign. Motion made and approved.

- Water adjustment request: Approved a customer billing adjustment for a single-family property on Monhegan Avenue (accounts 162–164), reducing the account for billing purposes to 5,000 gallons based on prior usage history. Motion made and approved.

- Item 4.2 — Lien-sale/book-lien item: The board voted to table the lien-sale item until Leonora from the office could be present to explain details. Motion to table seconded and approved.

What board members and staff said: Board members repeatedly noted that several contract changes and requests were submitted to the city after the budget was adopted early in January; staff confirmed the November–January timing on vendor notices. On the garbage contract, the board noted the city is tapping into a county bid.

Next steps: Tabled items will return when staff who prepared the file are present. The approved transfers and contract authorizations will be implemented by the appropriate departments and reflected in municipal accounting.

(See provenance below for transcript excerpts related to each item.)