Seneca Falls will review department budgets over three evenings next week, with proposed raises for elected officials ranging from no increase for the supervisor to 36% for Town Board members.
The meetings are scheduled for Oct. 19, 21 and 22 at Town Hall. The town’s Oct. 8 notice includes the meeting schedule and pay proposals, but does not identify the budget year. The two budget files reviewed for this story were prepared in fall 2025 for the proposed 2026 budget.
Those files show a $9.22 million general fund proposal that relied on more than $4.3 million in reserves and accumulated savings. They also outlined additional highway property tax revenue, higher projected sewer collections and a $750,000 transfer to the refuse district. They do not show what the town ultimately adopted or what spending changes officials will consider next week.
General fund spending and revenue
The preliminary 2026 budget proposed $9,217,802.50 in general fund appropriations, an increase of about $1.64 million, or 21.6%, over the adopted 2025 budget.
General fund property tax revenue would have stayed at $3,508,947. The plan called for using $3,333,855.50 in fund balance and $1 million in reserves to cover the gap between projected revenue and spending.
Together, those withdrawals would have supplied about 47% of the general fund budget. The documents do not show how much savings would have remained afterward.
Projected general fund revenue dropped from $8.22 million in the adopted 2025 budget to $4.88 million in the proposal. Two changes accounted for most of the decline: A $3 million refuse and garbage revenue line fell to zero, as did $330,000 in county sales tax sharing.
The budget sheets offer no explanation for either change. They show what the town planned to collect under those accounts, but do not establish whether the money was no longer expected, recorded elsewhere or omitted for another reason.
Keeping the general fund’s property tax revenue flat would not have kept all town taxes flat. The highway fund and several districts carried their own tax requirements. No tax rate schedule or property-specific estimates were included.
Police, court and public works
Police operating appropriations rose to $2,006,619 in the 2026 proposal, up $107,228, or 5.6%, from the adopted 2025 budget. Retirement and other benefits were budgeted separately.
The police section included $116,656 for vehicles, $60,000 for equipment and $74,414 for maintenance agreements. Overtime funding fell from $80,000 to $60,000.
Town court spending increased 17%, from $198,864 to $232,706. The proposal added $30,000 for a part-time clerk and allocated $55,000 each for two full-time court clerk positions.
Public works appropriations increased from $375,000 to $452,605, or 20.7%. That included $75,000 for equipment and $35,000 for materials.
The general fund also included $500,000 for Safe Routes to School, a project with no appropriation in the adopted 2025 budget. Streetlighting electricity funding increased from $120,000 to $200,000.
Employee benefits rose about 6.4%, to $1.55 million. Hospital and medical insurance accounted for $340,500, up from $288,500.
The town manager salary allocation increased from $77,450 to $120,000. The manager’s position is separate from the elected supervisor.
Other proposed changes included cuts in planning appropriations from $39,000 to $26,800 and cemetery spending from $108,100 to $69,600.
The separate recreation fund declined about 4.1%, to $746,756. It projected $91,800 in program revenue, up from $50,700, while reducing general fund support from $727,277.45 to $654,506.
Vince’s Park spending increased about 1.9%, to $163,656.
Highway, water, sewer and refuse
The highway fund proposed $1,218,475 in spending, up 4.3%. Its funding plan included $605,975 in property taxes, compared with no property tax revenue in the adopted 2025 budget.
The proposal retained $612,500 in consolidated highway aid and eliminated the previous budget’s $516,050 contribution from fund balance. Spending included $540,000 for the street plan and $122,000 for snow removal, including $80,000 for salt.
Water fund appropriations increased 1.6%, to $2,051,299. Projected metered sales fell from $1.8 million to $1.6 million, and the fund would have used $261,299 in accumulated savings.
Sewer spending increased about 3%, to $2,639,170, while projected sewer rents rose much faster — from $2.1 million to $2.9 million.
The $800,000 increase in expected sewer rents does not establish an equivalent increase in customer rates. The files contain no rate schedule or explanation for the revenue estimate.
Proposed sewer work included a $150,000 improvement study, $240,000 for treatment plant maintenance and $100,000 each for the Auburn Road and Water Street pump stations. Debt service declined from $340,907 to $246,970.
Refuse district appropriations more than tripled, from $332,100 to $1,054,100. A new $750,000 expense labeled “Transfer Charges” drove the increase. The district also listed $750,000 in interfund income, matching a transfer from the general fund.
The refuse proposal retained $100,000 for Seneca Meadows, $189,600 for Cardinal Sanitation and $14,500 for Natural Upcycling. Revenue listed as “Tax Raised Per Unit” declined from $318,150 to $304,100.
Transfers between town funds appear on both sides of the budget. Adding all fund appropriations together without accounting for those transfers would count some spending twice.
The supplemental budget sheets proposed $11,612.50 for Bridgeport area water debt service, $55,000 for old village obligations and $12,000 for old town obligations.
Meeting schedule and proposed raises
Next week’s meetings will be held in the courtroom at 130 Ovid St.
On Monday, Oct. 19, officials will review Town Court at 5:30 p.m., the Police Department at 5:45 p.m. and Highway at 6 p.m.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, the Assessor is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Water and Sewer for 5:45 p.m. and Public Works for 6 p.m.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, reviews begin with Zoning at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Recreation Center at 5:45 p.m., Town Clerk at 6 p.m. and Supervisor at 6:15 p.m. A discussion of budget expenses and funding is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The notice lists a 36% proposed pay increase for Town Board members, 3.2% for the town clerk, 3.6% for the highway superintendent and 6.66% for judges. It lists no increase for the supervisor.
Dollar figures beside those percentages are $14,853.01 for Town Board members, $65,900 for the clerk, $70,512 for the highway superintendent, $35,680.50 for judges and $10,921.56 for the supervisor.
The notice labels those dollar amounts “Proposed Increase,” although the supervisor’s entry shows a 0% raise. That inconsistency leaves the dollar column unclear; the listed amounts cannot reliably be described as the size of each raise.
The notice gives no adoption date or separate public hearing date. Its final scheduled discussion is the Oct. 22 session on expenses and funding.
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