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Middletown treasurer presents 2026 budget; mayor asks council to consider larger senior exemptions
Summary
City treasurer presented 2026 general-fund highlights noting a modest overall increase and an estimated tax levy rise from about $23.94M to $24.56M; Mayor Joseph Castefano asked the council to adopt Orange County’s sliding-scale senior exemption, referring the proposal to committee.
City Treasurer Leonora presented highlights of the proposed 2026 general-fund budget at the Nov. 18 Middletown Common Council meeting, describing small year-over-year changes to operations, personnel and benefits and characterizing the overall change as a modest increase.
Leonora told the council the 2025 tax levy was $23,936,554 and the proposed 2026 levy is about $24,557,093, a difference she described as roughly a 4% increase. She said estimated average household impacts were minor and invited questions and further financial-analysis requests from the council.
Separately, Mayor Joseph Castefano submitted correspondence asking the council to "adopt the same sliding scale senior exemption levels as Orange County," proposing exemptions from 50% down to 5% while increasing the income eligibility thresholds (he cited roughly a $29,000 threshold for the 50% exemption and up to about $37,399 for a 5% exemption). The mayor asked the council to review the proposal, schedule it for committee discussion and consider drafting a local law with the required public hearing process.
Council members agreed to forward the mayor’s proposal to committee. Treasurer Leonora and other staff offered to provide comparative municipality data and any requested financial-impact analysis to inform committee deliberations.
Next steps: the council referred the senior-exemption proposal to committee for review and possible introduction of local-law language at a subsequent meeting.
