Yorktown Adopts 2025 Budget by 3-2 Vote

Editor's Note: Due to an editing error made by our publisher, an earlier version of this story erroneously added an additional $22.14 to the annual town tax increase. Instead of a $132.96 increase, the correct increase was $110.82. In our calculations of the budget document, we correctly subtracted the 2024 tax rate from the anticipated 2025 tax rate, but then erroneously concluded the tax rate was monthly and therefore multiplied the difference by 12 to get the annual number. In actuality, the published tax rate was already annual and based on a $1,000 assessed value. We should have instead multiplied the number by 10 (since $10,000 is the average assessed homeowner, different from market value), which would have given our readers the average homeowner's annual increase. We apologize and deeply regret the error. 

YORKTOWN, N.Y.—The Yorktown Town Board adopted a $48.2 million budget for 2025.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the board held a public hearing on the 2025 Preliminary Budget, which it adopted on Nov. 19, and following comments, the board—with minor modifications that had no financial impact on the budget—moved to adopt the budget in a 3-2 vote.

Supervisor Ed Lachterman, Councilwoman Susan Siegel and Councilman Patrick Murphy voted in favor; Councilwoman Luciana Haughwout and Councilman Sergio Esposito voted against.

The budget for the 2025 fiscal year beginning Jan. 1 represents a $2.9 million increase from the 2024 Adopted Budget with a town tax increase of 6.68%—down 2% from the tentative 8.6% tax rate increase in an earlier version of the budget.

“Yorktown is in a good fiscal position,” Lachterman said during the hearing. “However the cost of inflation has taken a toll on costs, which are now reflected in the 2025 operating budget.”

Town taxes represent about 10 percent of the total bill for Yorktown taxpayers. School taxes represent about 70 percent of the total.

The rate for the town’s portion of the tax burden will be $176.86 per $1,000 of assessed value. Note that assessed value is not equivalent to market value.  

Special taxing districts, such as advanced life services, garbage, sewer and water, are assessed separately from the general fund, highway and library services. For the average home assessed at $10,000, the increase to town residents will be $100.82 annually or $9.24 per month.

The town expects to use over $1.425 million of fund balance to offset an even greater increase in taxes.

In explaining his no vote, Esposito said at the meeting that he would have liked for the town to have used more of the fund balance to offset the tax increase. He explained that an additional $250,000 taken from the fund balance would have reduced the tax rate by an additional 1%

“It’s taxpayer money,” Esposito said. “I take it very seriously about spending taxpayer money...We don’t have to use the entire fund balance... $250,000-$500,000, one point or two points .... and I think that we could use that as a parachute to ease the tax rate for the taxpayer.”

Meanwhile, Haughwout said she would have wanted the town to take on a little extra debt in its capital spending to offset the tax increase.

Lachterman said during the meeting the town had many achievements in 2024, despite rising costs. But there’s more that needs to get done.

“The Town Board, department heads, and employees are watching every penny to be fiscally responsible for taxpayers,” he said. “We’re also going to sort of attack some of those things that we don’t have control over, but Albany does.”