Trustees debate budget revenue assumptions including property taxes, sales tax sharing and parking revenues

Trustees spent much of the workshop reviewing the revenue side of the draft 2026 general fund budget. Staff said the draft currently assumes the village will levy the maximum it can under New York's tax-cap rules and that an anticipated county sales-tax sharing arrangement could yield roughly $50,000 in the coming fiscal year.

Finance staff walked trustees through line items: the fire service award is expected to increase by about $8,000, of which Cold Spring would pay roughly $4,000; building-permit and franchise-fee revenues are trending up; and parking revenues were budgeted conservatively at $183,005.91 based on multi-year averages and recent app-vs-kiosk trends. Staff noted some items remain estimates pending actuarial reports and final county distributions, and recommended adopting conservative numbers until confirmations arrive later in March.

Trustees discussed potential fee adjustments — including whether to raise police report fees from $5 to match DMV/state levels — and asked staff to reformat the fee schedule for clearer review at follow-up sessions. The board set deadlines for budget steps: tentative budget public posting by March 20 and adoption by May 1 with a public hearing scheduled in April.