Town Board adopts 2025 budget after cuts, uses $2.09M from reserves; residents warn of future increases

The Town Board voted to adopt its 2025 budget after a months‑long review that combined spending cuts, deferred capital projects and a draw of $2,088,000 from the town’s savings.

Town controller Tracy Augman told the public the board reduced the property tax levy by $428,000 between the preliminary proposal and the version put up for adoption, citing a mix of expense reductions, modest revenue adjustments and targeted fund‑balance use. "We were able to reduce the property tax levy by $428,000 between the preliminary and the budget for consideration tonight," Augman said during the presentation.

Augman and the town administrator explained the budget process, legal deadlines and the difficulties of balancing capital needs, personnel costs and limited revenue options. Augman noted that capital projects were reviewed three times and that some items were deferred or reduced to bring the levy down; she identified added costs that remained in the plan, including $30,000 for an "aggressive maintenance" program at the Hammocks Field and $45,000 to retube the ice rink compressor.

"If the board did not vote to adopt the final budget tonight, it by law goes back to what the preliminary budget was," the administrator said, underlining the legal schedule that governs the town’s budget process.

The budget as presented reduces the tax levy from the preliminary $38.1 million to $34.6 million, a decline of approximately $3.5 million from the tentative figure; the board also authorized using roughly $2.09 million of fund balance to lower the tax obligation for the coming year. Controller Augman explained the town’s beginning fund balance was about $19.1 million and that projected draws and balances leave an estimated $15.9 million across nine funds, with staff emphasizing the need to keep three to four months of operating cash to pay bills between January and April when tax receipts lag.

Members of the board defended the outcome as the product of intensive line‑by‑line review. "We focused on community safety, on our staff safety. That has been the most important thing in terms of the money that we're spending," board member Melissa Knott said, describing the cuts as targeted and deliberate.

Residents at the public hearing pressed the board for more structural fixes. Anne Good, who identified herself as an unincorporated‑area resident, said she worried that multi‑year increases and continued reliance on reserves were unsustainable. "This is not sustainable," she said, urging the board to identify foundational changes to spending growth and revenue.

Staff and board members repeatedly stressed that, because the town's revenue is heavily property‑tax dependent and several large capital needs are converging, the town faces difficult choices about postponements, new fees and program trade‑offs. Officials also said they will pursue grants aggressively; board members highlighted $10.5 million in grant awards the town secured in 2024 and noted more applications are pending.

The board called the motion to adopt the budget and recorded the roll call during the public meeting; the chair announced, "We have a budget," after the vote. The motion text and all roll‑call names were read into the record and the board moved on to other agenda items.

What happens next: the budget adopted at this meeting will be implemented into next year’s fiscal operations. Board members said they expect more work in the coming year to examine compensation, service levels and long‑term funding to reduce reliance on one‑time reserves.

Votes and formal action: the board voted to adopt the budget during the meeting (roll‑call recorded during the session). The transcript records corresponding aye votes in roll call; the motion was carried and the chair declared the budget adopted.