In the final budget of his tenure, supervisor Bill McKenna proposed a 17.5 percent tax decrease, but the use of $2 million in surplus to accomplish it raises concerns about fiscal responsibility and a lack of funding for emergencies.
Proposed town and highway spending for 2026, including lighting, sewer and water districts, is $11,120,906 — up $611,311, or 5.8 percent. The combined levy is $6,005,334, down $1,274,538, or 17.5 percent, from $7,279,872. Fire and library districts are not included because they are set by separate governing bodies.
The initial budget presentation is usually a five-minute affair, as the town board typically digests it over the coming days and meets with department heads to make adjustments. But this year, council member Bennet Ratcliff and presumptive supervisor-elect Anula Courtis peppered McKenna with questions, while he seemed annoyed at the scrutiny.
“I see that there’s a 17.4% decrease, and it’s way below the tax cap. How did you arrive at that? How did you create that decrease?” Ratcliff asked.
Note that while McKenna’s budget message mentioned a 17.4 percent drop, calculations based on comparison against the 2025 budget result in a 17.5 percent decrease. This may be the result of rounding.
“I used a lot of fund balance,” McKenna said, without specifying anything.
“Can you elaborate on the 12- to 24-month impact of that for the town?” Courtis asked.
“Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you,” he said.
“Well, that would be important before using the fund balance to have an idea … So can we discuss that at the next town board meeting?” Courtis asked.
“I think that taking the fund balance and making a unilateral decision on that without an idea of laying out the impact for the next one to two years is something that’s really significant.”
Courtis pressed McKenna again on a 12- to 24-month impact analysis on the use of fund balances. Aside from using surplus to offset taxes, a sudden double-digit tax cut can have implications in future years, often necessitating tax increases to make up for cuts in services. This happened more recently in the middle of the COVID shutdown, when a tax break was included in the following year’s budget, only to have a tax hike the next year.
“I’m going to have to think about what the impacts could be. That’s a document that doesn’t exist. And I’m going to give you my opinion, which most of you don’t hold in high regard anyway.”
It’s a matter that should be taken seriously, Courtis countered.
“Comments aside, it’s a serious question because you’re going to ask for us to vote on it. And so before we vote on that, there’s got to be an impact because it sounds like there’s no capital project allocation,” she said.
“We don’t want to leave the next administration broke for the next year or two,” she said.
“You won’t be broke. There’s a lot of money,” McKenna countered.
McKenna pushed back on the use of surplus, saying he is responding to criticism for amassing too much of a surplus in recent years.
“I find it very interesting because during the campaign, one individual kept hounding about the fund balance and the fund balance being too high, and all the candidates who were running for election — no one stood up and said, no, you’re wrong, McKenna’s doing the right job,” he said.
“And therefore, I decided that since the public seems to be interested in not having such a huge fund balance … and in light of the fact that a project that we had talked about potentially using that money for is kind of dead in the water at this point, I think the taxpayers deserve to get the money back,” McKenna said.
“I haven’t heard anybody say that you’re doing a good job, Bill,” Ratcliff said.
At the budget presentation, McKenna could not answer specifics about the surplus, referred to as the fund balance. After the meeting, McKenna said the use of $2 million in surplus will leave about $894,000.
The Government Finance Officers Association recommends at least two months of expenses, or 16.7 percent of the general fund. For the 2026 proposed budget, that would be a minimum of $1.2 million.
Courtis said she plans to use three months of expenses as a guideline for general fund surplus, which will provide a cushion should county, state or federal funds be cut and there is an emergency.
“I think it’s a good question to ask. There’s a certain healthy amount for the fund balance. You don’t want it too low because you have no money for a rainy day. You don’t want it too high because you want to be fair to the taxpayers,” Ricci said.
“You all have the annual financial report that’s spelled out the fund balances for all the different funds. I’m happy to go over it and show you,” McKenna said.
“And I think it’s a fair discussion for the board — what is the right fund balance target. It’s a fair discussion,” Ricci said.
“Hey, listen. This is my tentative budget. I put it out there. Now it’s the board’s budget,” McKenna said.
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