WILMINGTON — The Wilmington Town Council passed a $2.49 million budget for the 2025 fiscal year at a board meeting on Nov. 12 with a 3-2 vote. Council members Tina Terry Preston and Darin Forbes voted “yes” along with Supervisor Favor Smith. Council members Tim Follos and Laura Dreissigacker Hooker voted “no.”

The 2025 adopted budget of $2,489,994 is about 10% higher than the 2024 adopted budget, which totaled $2,264,526. However, the adopted budget was slightly lower than the $2,493,094 preliminary budget, which was passed with an identical 3-2 vote at a special meeting on Nov. 7, following a public hearing.

This total includes the town general fund, a town-wide highway fund, and funds for the Wilmington and Whiteface water districts, as well as a category for bonds and interest. The Wilmington Fire District, which has a separate budget process that is not controlled by the town, has a budget of $614,435 in 2025, according to the town’s budget document.

The town’s total tax levy for the fiscal year of 2025 is $1,363,412. This is lower than the $1,402,612 levy that was in the preliminary budget. The tax levy in the 2025 budget is a 3.6% increase from the 2024 tax levy of $1,316,081. The fire district is expected to collect $588,435 in taxes, an 18% increase from last year’s adopted budget.

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Increasing revenues

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Between the preliminary budget and the adopted budget, the main difference was an increase in a few revenue sources, which Smith said was done with the goal of reducing the tax levy. The town general fund was bolstered by about $20,000 in bed tax money and the town plans on increasing water rates to increase the water district revenues.

“The board was looking to see whether they could increase revenues by means other than real property taxes,” Smith said on Thursday. “So it assumed we’re going to get more money from the bed tax, and it reduced the tax levy by increasing the water rates.”

There was some disagreement at the Nov. 12 meeting that followed similar themes as the special meeting for the preliminary budget. Follos continued to ask the board to look for additional ways to cut expenses and increase other revenue sources to reduce the tax levy.

Right before voting against the passing the budget, he said, “Obviously, we should have another meeting.”