By Kevin Ostrowski
GRAND ISLAND — Grand Island homeowners are looking at a 15% jump in the town’s general fund tax rate next year, and a 25% jump for those in the sewer district, under the preliminary 2027 budget the Town Board took up last week.
The board held its public hearing on the budget Nov. 2 and then tabled it on a 5-0 vote, according to the town’s meeting disposition. The same night, it approved a land option and lease agreement that lets a renewable energy company study battery storage on town-owned land on Whitehaven Road.
What the numbers say
The town’s 2027 preliminary budget summary calls for raising $2,685,135 in general fund taxes, at an estimated $0.772 per $1,000 of assessed value. Last year’s preliminary summary put the general fund levy at $2,335,135, or $0.671 per $1,000. That is $350,000 more, an increase of about 15%.
For a home assessed at $300,000, the general fund rate alone would go from about $201 to about $232. Add the fire protection and highway rates, which barely move, and the town portion of that bill rises by about $35, from roughly $634 to $669.
The bigger change is in the sewer district. The preliminary budget raises $2,047,022 there, up from $1,636,684, and the estimated rate climbs from $3.72 to $4.66 per $1,000. The town’s summary notes that water and sewer rates are charged on land value only.
Overall, the amount to be raised by town taxes across all funds would rise from about $12.78 million to about $13.63 million. The town also plans to use less of its savings: the general fund would draw $3.42 million from fund balance, down from $4.45 million in last year’s preliminary plan. The flat garbage charge would go from $265 to $267 per single-family home.
The comparison uses the 2026 preliminary summary, the most recent comparable document the town has posted; the final 2026 budget may differ slightly. Niagara Frontier Publications, which first reported the budget figures, also put the general fund increase at more than 15% and the sewer increase at 25.27%.
“Really aggressive”
Supervisor Peter Marston said the board had already squeezed the budget hard, according to an account by Benjamin Joe of Niagara Frontier Publications.
“We’re down a couple rabbit holes and if we come up with anything we maybe can move a little bit of it, but there’s not a whole lot … we’ve been really aggressive with this budget,” Marston said. “Really aggressive.”
At an Oct. 16 workshop, the board made a handful of changes, minutes show: trimming $8,000 in senior program overtime and $20,000 for air-conditioning units, adding $110,000 for a parks mower and covering the net cost with $62,000 more from fund balance.
The board also voted Nov. 2 to add $814,016.33 in delinquent water and sewer accounts, including omitted taxes, to the 2027 tax roll, the disposition shows.
Under state law, towns must adopt their budgets by Nov. 20. The board’s next regular meeting is Monday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m.
The battery lease moves ahead
In October, The Buffalo Chronicle reported that the board was weighing a lease with CleanCapital for a battery energy storage system on part of 1600 Whitehaven Road, and that the lease terms had not appeared in public agenda packets.
On Nov. 2, after a public hearing at which CleanCapital’s Tim Schumer spoke, the board approved the environmental review and the land option and lease with CC Internal Development LLC, 5-0, the disposition shows. Schumer told the board each project would bring the town more than $2 million over roughly 25 years, Niagara Frontier Publications reported.
Marston described the deal as a chance for the company to study the site.
“We’re working on entering into an agreement,” he said at the end of the meeting. “They’re investigating the opportunities to put battery storage onto town land. So, we would have to lease them the property. Just trying to understand the finite pieces of all that, because it’s not really a daily occurrence.”
He said he was open to the idea, but not sold.
“They’re relatively new. The jury’s out, so to speak. I like the idea. It definitely stabilizes the grid,” Marston said. “Because we have a fair amount of solar here – solar is made during the day and it stores, and at night it can be bled off. It does take peaks and valleys out of our grid. So, I do appreciate that. The rest of it? I don’t know yet.”
A second battery project enters review
The board also took the first formal steps on another proposal. It voted 5-0 to act as lead agency for the environmental review of Baseline BESS 1 and Baseline BESS 2, a battery storage project listed under Sol Source, and to refer it to Erie County planners and the town’s Planning Board. In a separate 5-0 vote, it authorized the supervisor to sign an agreement for battery storage and solar project review services.
What we still don’t know
The meeting records reviewed by The Buffalo Chronicle do not state the rent CleanCapital would pay, how many acres it would use or how large the system could be. They also do not explain why the board tabled the budget, or what, if anything, the board may still change before Nov. 20.
The Buffalo Chronicle is asking the town for the signed lease terms and for any budget amendments under consideration, and will update this story with any response.
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