By EMILIA TEASDALE
GHENT—The four villages in Columbia County are finalizing their 2024-2025 budget. In New York, most village budget fiscal years run from June 1 to May 31. Boards normally approve the tentative budgets in April after village elections, which are held in March. As posted on the budget section of the Village of Chatham website, “A municipal budget has two basic purposes: 1) To establish, prioritize, and finance municipal services and programs; and, 2) To set the amount of money to be raised by property tax (what is referred to as the ‘tax levy’).”
*The Chatham Village Board is planning to hold their organizational meeting and the public hearing on the budget on April 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tracy Memorial/Village Hall on Main Street. The village’s proposed budget for the general fund is $1.6 million. The water fund budget is $490,000 and the sewer fund is $475,000. A breakdown of the tentative budget is on the village’s website at www.villageofchatham.com
*The Kinderhook Village Board held budget meetings on March 21 and April 2. Newly elected Mayor Dorene Weir also led the organizational meeting on April 2. The budget was very preliminary with more review needed so the board plans to have another budget meeting on Thursday, April 4 at 5 p.m. at the Village Hall, 6 Chatham Street.
*The Village of Philmont is holding their public hearing on the 2024-25 tentative budget on April 8 at 6 p.m. at the Village Hall, 124 Main Street. Their proposed budget is $1.3 million for the general fund. The village also has a water and sewer fund. For more information on the village’s current and past budgets, go to philmont.org.
*The Village of Valatie Board held a special meeting to review the tentative budget on March 26. The board plans to hold the public hearing on the budget, something all villages must do, before their next board meeting on April 9 at 7 p.m. at the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building. The total tentative budget for Valatie is $1.8 million. The general fund budget is $992,117, the water fund is $360,384 and the sewer fund is $475,900.
According to the NY Conference of Mayors timeline for village budgets, “After completion of the budget hearing, the board of trustees may further change the tentative budget. Such budget, as so revised, shall be adopted by resolution not later than May 1.”
