Cheektowaga board reviews $113.6M preliminary budget; levy set at 2.58% increase, adoption tabled
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Summary
Town staff presented a $113.6 million preliminary 2026 spending plan with a $75.5 million tax levy — a 2.58% ($1,898,206) increase under the state tax-cap calculation. The board read resolutions to adopt the ad valorem and benefit-basis budgets but tabled both measures to the next meeting.
The Cheektowaga Town Board on Nov. 6 heard a presentation of a preliminary 2026 budget that proposes $113,594,076 in total appropriations and a $75,500,000 tax levy, a 2.58% increase ($1,898,206) calculated under New York State's tax-cap formula.
Brian Krause, a town staff member who presented the packet, said the proposed plan balances spending with roughly $23,800,000 in other revenue sources and a $14,200,000 appropriation of fund balance, leaving the tax levy as the remaining balancing figure. Krause told the board the town is projecting a $3,500,000 increase in appropriations (3.24% year-over-year) driven largely by contractual labor settlements, fringe benefit increases and equipment needs.
Krause listed major revenue and expenditure drivers: public safety accounts for 35.5% of appropriations; highway and street lighting about 16.9%; union contract settlements set at 3.25% added roughly $930,000 in wages (with additional step increases); self-insured medical costs are forecast to rise by about $1,500,000; and debt service declines by approximately $302,000. On the revenue side, Krause said increases are expected from interest income (+$479,000), police-related revenues (+$344,000), sales tax (+$1,000,000), mortgage tax (+$250,000) and a newly available hotel bed tax (conservatively estimated at $500,000). He also noted a reduction in a Buffalo Sewer Authority bill (-$700,000) and other adjustments.
Krause said the town reduced its planned use of fund balance for 2026 by about $1,300,000 and provided an example impact on an average residential bill: an estimated $46.37 increase compared with 2025 for the sample property used in the packet.
Public comment at the hearing focused heavily on the proposed program cuts in recreation, threatened cultural grants and possible reductions to a Meals on Wheels donation. Several residents urged the board to preserve pools, swim lessons and youth programs; agency representatives warned that reduced municipal contributions could limit service capacity.
The clerk read two resolutions into the record: Res. 2025-779, adopting the town's ad valorem preliminary budget, and Res. 2025-780, adopting the 2026 benefit-basis budget for special districts. A motion to table each resolution was made and seconded; both resolutions were tabled to the board's next scheduled meeting. No roll-call vote adopting either budget was completed at the Nov. 6 hearing.
The board left the public hearing open and scheduled further consideration at the Nov. 12 meeting; the statutory deadline to adopt and file a final budget is Nov. 18'Nov. 20 (the town cited both dates in discussion).
