VOORHEESVILLE — At $2.95 million, Voorheesville’s first-draft village budget for 2025-26 is up about 2.7 percent over this year’s adopted spending plan. 

The village property tax rate would increase three-quarters of 1 percent next year, from about $1.36 per $1,000 of assessed value this year to approximately $1.37 per $1,000 next year.

The entire village has an assessed value of about $266.3 million, of which about 92.5 percent is taxable, and is up from $264.5 million.

The total tax property haul is expected to be about $338,300, a 2 percent increase. 

The village breaks its spending into three buckets: general, water, and sewer.

The appropriations proposed in next year’s general budget totals about $2.01 million, up from $1.94 million this year:

— $636,000 is allocated for transportation, about 40 percent of which is public works department wages; 

— $421,500 is for general government support, which includes the salaries of the village board, mayor, and clerk-treasurer and deputy clerk, and is up about 16 percent, from $362,700 this year; 

— $273,300 is for home and community, which is down slightly and includes fees paid to the Rapp Road landfill and the village’s contract for recycling pick-up; 

— $309,400 is for employee benefits, up 10.5 percent from this year; 

— $224,400 is for public safety and health, largely fire and ambulance coverage; and

— $91,250 is to service the village’s debt, which is down slightly.

Rainy-day funds will be used to make up a $19,000 budget gap.

Mayor Rich Straut’s salary is slated to increase from about $16,450 to nearly $17,000, while trustees’ individual annual pay would go from about $7,250 to approximately $7,500.

The village’s general fund is expecting about $2.01 million in revenues from these sources:

— About $1.26 million in sales tax, which is distributed by Albany County based on population. In 2024, Voorheesville took in about $1.31 million in county tax revenue, according to the state comptroller; through three county disbursements so far this fiscal year — June 2024 to May 2025 — the village has received about $997,000; 

— $338,300 from property taxes;

— $124,350 in highway aid;

— $90,000 in utility and franchise fees;

— $59,000 from property rentals; and 

— $31,000 from mortgage taxes

The proposed $611,500 water budget is down from $624,000 this year, with revenues from the water district expected to cover all costs. The sewer spending is up from $314,000 to $326,800, as the village expects rents to cover next year’s appropriation.