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Pembroke schedules 2026 budget hearing as highway superintendent urges excavator funding
Summary
The board set an Oct. 23 public hearing for the 2026 budget; Highway Superintendent Scott Turner urged the board to budget for a replacement excavator (estimated purchase $320,000 or lease $50–60k/year). Supervisor Schneider said preliminary numbers could lower the tax rate if feasible.
The Pembroke Town Board voted on Sept. 25 to schedule a public hearing on the 2026 preliminary budget for Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m., and the board received a request from Highway Superintendent Scott Turner to include funding for a replacement excavator in 2026.
Turner told the board the 1998 excavator purchased used in 2004 is aging and parts have become difficult to source. He said the town’s two main options are purchasing a replacement outright at roughly $320,000 or leasing an excavator for approximately $50,000 to $60,000 a year; he asked the board to budget for the expenditure in the 2026 budget.
Supervisor Thomas Schneider and Councilwoman Kathleen Manne reviewed preliminary budget numbers with the town bookkeeper. Schneider said that, if current preliminary assumptions hold, the town's tax rate could be reduced from $1.86 per $1,000 to about $1.50 per $1,000, though he noted staff are still checking whether a tax-cap override will be needed because of loan or debt-service obligations.
A motion by Supervisor Schneider, seconded by Councilwoman Manne, set the 2026 budget public hearing for Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m.; the motion passed unanimously.
The board also reviewed consultant proposals for grant-writing services and voted to hire G&G Consulting through the end of 2025 at a monthly rate, per a motion by Councilman Thomas Dix and seconded by Councilman Edward G. Arnold Jr.
What happens next: Budget hearings will allow the public to comment on proposed numbers; if the board chooses to include excavator funding it will be reflected in the proposed 2026 budget and discussed at the hearing.
