OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Town Board members Colleen Yerico, left, and Joe White, right, both voted in favor of the 2025 Town of Sheridan operating budget at a recent meeting.

SHERIDAN — At its recent meeting, the Town Board approved its 2025 budget, which includes a total amount of appropriations of $2,631,503, of which $826,358 will be raised by taxes.

The 2025 Town budget allocated $272,370 toward fire protection through the Sheridan Fire District, an increase of $2,520 from a year ago. The Town also approved a contract with Fire Protection District 1 in the amount of $4,650. Fire Protection District 1 is a group of parcels of land that fall outside of the main Fire District, including parts of Miller Road, Stone Quarry Road, and Creek Road. The Sheridan Fire District is different from the Fire Protection District, which is a separate district, not taxed based on assessment like the Town’s district is.

A year ago, the Town approved a tax reduction of 2 cents per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. It was the second consecutive tax reduction. The Town Board approved a budget that was $30,285 beneath the tax cap a year ago.

This year, the Town was closer to the tax cap than it was a year ago, but there was still plenty of room left over. The Town stayed more than $10,000 under the tax cap limit of $563,991 in 2025.

Salaries of three employees increased in the 2025 budget in an effort to be more competitive with other nearby municipalities. The increases apply to Town Clerk Rebecca Schafer, Code Enforcement Officer James Crowell, and Highway Superintendent Jeff Feinen.

Schafer earns a salary of $30,000 as Town Clerk; Feinen earns a salary of $60,000 as Highway Superintendent, along with $21,321 through the shared services agreement with the Town of Dunkirk, where he also serves as superintendent. The town increased its safety inspection budget by $5,850 in 2025, including a $4,350 increase to personal services. Crowell is the Town’s Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer.

Supervisor Tom Wik will receive a salary of $8,736, while the four Town Board members — Richard Feinen, Craig Sutton, Joe White, and Colleen Yerico — each receive a salary of $3,822. Town Justices Lydia Romer and Johnathan Szumigala each receive a salary of $15,288. Town Attorney costs have increased by $5,000 from the previous year, totaling $12,000 in 2025.

The budget also shows an anticipated $20,000 increase in sales tax, as well as funding through host community agreement with solar energy projects in the amount of $17,185. An additional $25,000 was budgeted in 2025 for general repairs, totaling $405,000. Machinery costs also show an increase of $11,000.

The Town Board meeting and public hearing for the budget was held a week earlier than the usual second Wednesday of each month due to the timing requirements of budget hearings and votes. A special meeting to allow for the Board to set the hearing dates was Oct. 23, at what was originally scheduled as a workshop before later being changed to a special meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Sheridan Town Board is Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Sheridan Community Center.