Lewisboro Town Board mulls tentative 2027 budget

By NEAL RENTZ

Lewisboro Supervisor Tony Gonçalves on Oct. 26 presented the Town Board with his $19,076,498 tentative 2027 budget.

The current year’s budget is $17,462,249.  

The spending plan includes a property tax increase of 28%, but Gonçalves stressed in an interview he and his Town Board colleagues would work to reduce that amount.  

“This will be adjusted once we finalize the review of the tentative budget and make further adjustments,” he said.

Gonçalves noted the state-mandated property tax cap for Lewisboro next year is 2.77%.

The tentative budget’s forecasted revenue has decreases of $250,000 in Building Department fees; a reduction of $75,000 in mortgage tax revenue; and a $40,000 reduction in cell tower rent, which Gonçalves explained “was based on a one-time signing bonus for a lease extension which we recorded as revenue for 2026.”

The tentative budget includes the following proposed expense increases: an additional $562,392 for the Highway Department; an increase of $283,657 for salaries and wages; an additional $170,363 for employees’ health insurance; an increase of $153,000 to the state for the employees’ retirement fund; an additional $96,095 for Maintenance Department expenses; an increase of $89,418 for the town’s contribution to the Lewisboro Library; an additional $57,363 for debt service; and an additional $47,090 for liability insurance. 

Gonçalves said some of the areas that the Town Board could review to get the budget closer to the tax cap include revisiting budget expense lines for potential cuts, considering using the fund balance to reduce the budget, and revisiting all revenue lines.

Gonçalves stated in his tentative budget letter that the town’s expenses for the state retirement fund for its employees and health insurance for its workers “continue to increase dramatically.” The town’s contributions to the pension system have increased by 93% from 2024, and employee health insurance costs have gone up by $580,000 since 2024, he stated.

Library contribution request

The town’s contribution to the Lewisboro Library was discussed during the meeting.

Library Board President, Maggie Liegey, asked the Town Board to provide $89,000 to the library next year. 

Last year the library asked the Town Board for $85,000, but it received $24,000, Liegey said. The town’s contribution to the library did not cover its increased fixed costs, including higher employee health insurance costs, she said. The library’s operating loss this year is approaching $100,000, she said.

“What did that shortfall cost us? Primarily delayed repairs, maintenance and capital spending,” Liegey told the Town Board. Delaying maintenance usually makes it more costly in the future, she said.

The town’s contribution to the library fell from 74% of its budget in 2025 to 67% of its budget this year, the lowest percentage in 30 years, Liegey said. “We’re asking to get back toward where the partnership has always been,” she said. 

The library is doing additional fundraising to close the gap, Liegey said.

Gonçalves said he and town Comptroller Annie Burnham recently met with Liegey, who agreed to reduce the library’s initial contribution request. 

Councilwoman Julia Hadlock, the Town Board’s liaison to the library, said the facility could be used like a community center in partnership with the town’s Parks and Recreation Department. Town investment in the library “is investment in space that we could use as a town,” she said.