After careful calculation and review, the Shawangunk board presented and adopted the town’s 2025 preliminary budget on Thursday, November 7, including an 11% raise to the tax rate that will help cover staff salaries and improve local road infrastructure.

The budget totaled $12,633,387 in appropriations, a $891,680 increase from last year. For individual sections, notable appropriations include $4,272,331 for the general fund, $3,729,483 for the highway fund, $308,718 for the water district, $576,021 for the sewer district, $389,646 for the Wallkill Library District, $394,266 for the Pine Bush Area Library, $423,606 for the Shawangunk Valley Fire District, $204,000 for the Wallkill Ambulance District, and $100,000 for the PB Ambulance.

The budget’s tax rates are $8.42 for the general fund, an 11.4% increase from last year, and $13.51 for the highway fund, a 10.3% increase. A household with an assessed value of $200,000 would pay $1,648 in taxes under the general fund, or $2,702 in taxes under the highway fund.

Supervisor Ken Ronk attributed the tax increase to three major reasons: inflation of goods and services, increases in the town staff’s salaries, and increases in the highway fund. Ronk and the board want to bring the staff salaries up to parity with neighboring municipalities, which includes increasing clerical salaries from $19.61 per hour to $21.50 per hour. The board has also received numerous complaints from residents about the town’s road conditions, hence the $235,353 increase to the highway fund will go toward road repair and maintenance.

“Since becoming supervisor, we’ve received a lot of complaints from residents about the town’s roads, and everyone wants the highway department to fix their road,” Ronk said regarding the highway fund. “We want to address all these roads, so we increased the appropriations to the highway department.”

Salaries for elected officials include $38,336 for the town supervisor, $13,753 for each councilman, $16,729 for each justice, $60,157 for the highway superintendent, and $57,280 for the town clerk. Ronk noted that none of these salaries increased from last year’s budget.

Ronk felt that the town and its finance department did a great job handling the 2025 budget and keeping previous budgets on track. He assured that the town will continue practicing good budgeting, be mindful of spending, and maintain residents’ taxes.

“I think we handled the budget well, we got everyone together to submit their ‘wish lists,’” Ronk said. “We’re working to address residents’ needs and keep their taxes low.”