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Farmland board trims donation to Historic Farmland, budgets modest employee raises and reviews phone/cable costs
Summary
During the June 24 special meeting the Farmland Town Board voted to suspend tax‑dollar donations to Historic Farmland USA, agreed to budget $2,000 per employee for raises in the draft 2026 budget, and reviewed telecom and fire‑station cable costs as potential savings.
The Farmland Town Board used its June 24, 2025 special meeting to prioritize items for the 2026 draft budget, voting to suspend the town’s tax‑dollar donation to Historic Farmland USA, tentatively budgeting $2,000 per employee for raises and directing staff to pursue telecom savings.
Historic Farmland USA: A letter from Historic Farmland USA requesting an increased annual donation and funds for a window campaign (the letter stated monthly expenses "over $9,000") was read into the record. A board member moved that the town "cannot afford to give tax dollars any longer to Historic Farmland" and made a motion to cease donations; the motion was seconded and taken by those present. The transcript does not show a roll‑call but indicates the board carried the motion in meeting discussion.
Employee raises: Board members discussed past increases and agreed for budgeting purposes to include a $2,000 increase per employee in the draft budget, while noting that future raises may be constrained by declining revenues if state changes reduce town revenue in coming years.
Intergovernmental contracts and capital items: Members raised concerns about the base price in longstanding fire protection contracts (documents traced back to 2005) and discussed the need to renegotiate township contributions so Farmland does not bear disproportionate costs for protection outside town limits. The board also reviewed capital priorities including a potential fire engine purchase and repairs to a barn/shop (power and partial floor), and urged careful vetting of big‑ticket projects.
Telecom and fire‑station cable: The town’s IT contact (Angela, described in the meeting as the IT person) met with Comcast and reported the town had been billed under a business program rather than a government rate. A proposed hosted phone system was described at about $179.70 per month to cover town buildings, with a small additional fee to add the fire department and enable forwarded calls and device maintenance. Board members also questioned ongoing cable/TV charges at the fire station (transcript cites monthly charges) and moved to remove the town payment for fire‑station cable in favor of smart‑TV/streaming options to reduce costs.
Next steps: Staff were directed to incorporate the board’s funding decisions and the Comcast phone proposal into the draft budget and to continue negotiating township and department contracts for the final budget process.
