East Fishkill Budget: Update
A number of months ago, I requested data using the Town’s request to FOIL (Freedom of Information Act) Town data. I had to follow up but the information was provided and the results are below.
It seems the Supervisor’s account is allotted $14,000 for work on the Budget. I would have thought budget work would be included in the $112,117 and any Budget stipend should be allocated to the Town Comptroller’s Office since the Town Comptroller is the Budget Officer. However, as posted on the Finance Department Section of the EF website, the Comptroller “only assists the Supervisor with the Budget.”
I will now FOIL the fringe benefits associated with the Supervisor and the members of the Town Board.
East Fishkill Budget
The information presented has been posted online. The format posted lacks an Executive Summary which might better inform the community of the changes throughout the years. The Budget Summary presented by the Town includes increases and decreases in expenditures but lacks the tax base information used to calculate the rate changes.
I reviewed three years of expenditures and noted that the 2024 Budget posted on the website was marked “tentative”. While the budget was in fact approved, it remains “tentative” on the Town website.
The following data is meant to provide summary information as the Budget posted lacks an executive summary and a year over year analysis. As noted below the East Fishkill’s 2025 calendar year approved budget lists expenditures at $32.2 million. The Budget includes the following funds:
General Fund
Highway Fund
Sewer Districts*
Water Districts*
Other Special Districts*
Lighting, Park , Drainage and Sidewalk
*Posted here in summary only.
The summary above excludes Rate per 1,000, Rate per Benefit Unit and Increase/(Decrease), which is visible on the posted Approved Budget. Since the Tax Base is not provided to calculate the increase and decrease, I did not want to misrepresent the tax base although it may be calculated by using the numbers above.
