VOORHEESVILLE — At $2.82 million, Voorheesville’s tentative village budget for 2024-25 is up about 1.6 percent over this year’s adopted spending plan. 

A public hearing on the proposed plan is set for April 15, at 6 p.m., at Village Hall. 

The village property tax rate is set to increase 2.25 percent next year, from about $1.32 per $1,000 of assessed value this year to approximately $1.36 per $1,000 next year. The entire village has an assessed value of about $264.5 million, of which about 92 percent is taxable, and is up from $262.5 million.

Village property owners’ tax bills also includes school taxes of $16.39 per $1,000 of assessed value, county taxes of $3.19 per $1,000, and the difference between the village’s $1.36 rate and New Scotland’s townwide general and highway taxes of $2.38 per $1,000 of assessed value, but some village property owners might not have to worry about covering the spread between the town and Voorheesville’s tax rates. 

The town-wide property tax rate is due to increase slightly next year; in round numbers it will be $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value for all New Scotland property owners. 

The biggest difference in next year’s New Scotland’s budget is a quirk of municipal accounting that will see the two pots of money usually reserved for villager-only taxes, the general fund for the town outside the village and the highway fund for the town outside the village not be taxed. 

The appropriations proposed in the general budget, which is largely funded by sales-tax dollars, total about $1.94 million, up from $1.89 million this time last year. 

Approximately $648,500 is allocated for transportation, about 46 percent of which is used to cover the salaries of workers in the public works department and the equipment they use; about $362,700 is for general government support, which includes the salaries of the village board, mayor, and clerk-treasurer and deputy clerk.

About $277,000 is for home and community, which includes fees paid to the Rapp Road landfill, the village’s contract for recycling pick-up, and everything having to do with planning and zoning in Voorheesville; about $280,000 is for employee benefits; about $220,000 is for public safety and health; and $95,000 is to service the village’s debt.

Rainy-day funds will be used to make up a $6,000 budget gap.

The 2024-25 budget also includes a 3.4-percent pay increase for village employees, and a between 7- and 9-percent bump for Voorheesville’s elected officials. Mayor Rich Straut’s salary is slated to increase from $15,000 to about $16,500, while trustees’ individual annual pay would go from $6,750 to about $7,250.

The village’s general fund expecting about $1.94 million in revenues from the following sources:

— About $1.2 million in sales tax, which is distributed by Albany County based on population. In 2023, Voorheesville took in about $1.3 million in county tax revenue, according to filings from the state comptroller, which was up about 25 percent from the previous year. 

— About $331,700 from property taxes;

— $124,350 in highway aid;

— $91,000 in utility and franchise fees;

— About $55,000 from property rentals; and 

— $33,000 from mortgage taxes, which is down significantly from recent years’ actual hauls of $56,000 and $45,000. 

The proposed water budget totals about $624,000, with revenues expected to cover all costs. 

Estimating expenditures and receivables of about $314,000, the village expects sewer rents to cover next year’s appropriation, 

Sewer revenue is expected to increase close to 8 percent next year, the likely outcome of the village’s recent Main Street installation project, which allowed an additional 70 homes to tie in to municipal sewer.