BERKSHIRE (WBNG) — Tensions were high at the Berkshire Town Hall on Wednesday, where residents came to voice their concerns at a public meeting.
The Town Board is looking to raise the local tax cap for residents to fund this year‘s town budget.
The Board said this the budget has been compromised due to incomplete records from the previous year.
Due to these unforeseen errors, the Board says there are no reserve funds left in its current budget and there are no other areas to cut spending to make up for unaccounted funds.
”We didn’t have enough; we didn’t budget enough because our records were not complete. And also, in doing those our budget was over last year. But we didn’t know that until after January,“ Berkshire Town Supervisor Barbara Gehm-Jordan told 12 News.
Residents voiced their concerns about the potential tax raise, stating the board doesn’t have enough data on how much money it needs to cover the missing budget.
”Why can’t we wait a month and table it until we see if this money comes in and you get your figures, you don’t know what your figures are and that doesn’t make sense,” a Berkshire resident stated. “It’s a business, every business knows what its bottom line is.”
The meeting ended with the town board deciding to table the vote and discussion on the town’s unaccounted budget.
The board is planning to meet and talk about it further on the budget issues on Nov. 1.
The 2025 budget for the town is due on Nov. 7.
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