Hampshire Village Board adopts FY2025–26 budget after public hearing

The Hampshire Village Board voted to adopt the fiscal year 2025–26 budget after a public hearing that featured a presentation from village finance staff.

Miss Lyons, who presented the budget, said the FY2025–26 plan “reflects a conservative approach to fund operations and capital projects with consideration for the economically volatile environment” and highlighted purchases in the general fund that include a new snowplow, a fork truck, a bucket truck, two squad cars and a speed-monitoring trailer. Lyons also detailed capital work for stormwater remediation, planned upgrades at the drinking-water treatment plant and continued lead service-line replacement engineering and planning.

Board members asked about differences from the prior draft; Lyons said changes included adjustments to the community sign cost-share, confirmation of historical society funding, a swap of a police facility painting for a drone purchase and a $1,100 software addition for the police department. She also noted the budget includes funding to pursue a special census, which could raise state-shared revenues allocated on a per-capita basis.

After public- hearing discussion, the board returned to open session and approved the budget ordinance by vote (motion passed 6–0). The ordinance will govern appropriations and capital spending for the coming fiscal year. The board also approved routine related items that were brought forward during the session.

The next procedural step is implementation by village staff under the new fiscal-year appropriations; the board did not set additional conditions in the meeting.