By Bridget Halloran
COLDEN — In a town where highway crews can make as many as 18 passes on some roads during a single snow event, the price of road salt is not an abstraction. It is the biggest reason Colden residents are looking at a higher tax bill next year.
The town’s preliminary 2027 budget raises the highway tax rate from $5.669 to $7.049 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to a budget summary posted on the town’s website. That is an increase of about 24%. It also creates a general fund property tax of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, a levy the town has not had before.
Residents get their say Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at Colden Town Hall, 8812 State Road, according to the town’s public hearing notice. The notice invites “all citizens” to give the Town Board “written or oral comments or questions concerning the Town’s budget.”
Salt, oil and fuel
Supervisor James DePasquale said the highway department accounts for the largest increase.
“Our highway department will be the largest increase and that’s due to contracts that are set for the purchase of road salt, trucks to be on the road, as well as our summertime care of the roads,” DePasquale told 7 News WKBW.
The town expects to pay $93.24 a ton for road salt next year, up from $57.79, plus a fuel surcharge. That is a jump of more than 61%. The town’s salt allocation is expected to reach about $127,000, and the highway department’s snow removal line would rise from $55,000 this year to nearly $105,000 in 2027, WKBW reported.
Salt is not the only cost going up. “There’s an increase of almost 40 cents per gallon of road oil and you can use thousands of gallons on a road to maintain it,” DePasquale said.
In a rural town, an icy stretch can wipe out the supply. “We can empty that barn if we have an icy week, we can empty that barn in 5-6 days,” DePasquale said.
Colden is not alone. Towns across Western New York have been writing higher salt prices into their 2027 budgets this fall, and the Town of Tonawanda cited a steep jump in rock salt costs when it went over the state tax cap.
A new general fund tax
The general fund tax is the bigger change in principle. Until now, the town’s general fund did not carry a separate property tax levy.
The town’s summary says the board cut more than $120,000 in spending, “but standard revenue shortfall and depleted fund balances mean the tax is required to sustain basic town services.”
“We’re trying to keep the tax increases as low as possible,” DePasquale told WKBW.
All told, the amount to be raised by taxes across the town’s funds and fire districts would rise about 21.6%, WKBW reported.
For a sense of scale, a property assessed at $200,000 would pay $200 under the new general fund rate and about $276 more in highway tax than this year, by the Buffalo Chronicle’s math using the posted rates. Actual bills depend on each property’s assessment, and the board can still change the budget before adopting it.
Garbage and water, too
Other charges are rising as well, according to the town’s summary:
Refuse: The annual garbage charge goes from $288.01 to $308.92, about $5.94 a week. The town says that reflects the end of a general fund subsidy and contract updates, including hazardous waste disposal.
Water: For the 257 parcels in the water district, the annual charge goes from $527.32 to $574.30, plus quarterly usage fees, because of maintenance on aging infrastructure.
Street lighting: A slight increase to cover higher electricity costs from NYSEG.
The hearing notice also lists proposed salaries for elected officials: $39,097 for the supervisor, $85,632 for the superintendent of highways, $54,686 for the town clerk, $16,215 for each of two town justices and $8,059 for each of four council members.
What residents can do
The full preliminary budget can be inspected at the town clerk’s office, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the notice. The town’s message to residents is simple: “If you have any questions, please try to attend.”
Questions worth asking Thursday include how much fund balance the town has left, what the board cut to find $120,000, and whether the new general fund tax is meant to be permanent. The Buffalo Chronicle has asked the supervisor’s office and will update this story with any response.
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