In response to the May 24 Gazette article with the headline, “Westhampton: Town budget sees 7.76% increase,” I’d like to add some detail to our recently passed budget. By Town Meeting vote, our FY24 operating budget increased about 5.4%, or $347,000 over FY23. This included increases of $49,000 for public safety, $148,000 for education, $42,000 for insurance, and $77,000 for general government.

The increases in general government were headlined by growing IT needs and salary increases for key positions that simply were making the hiring of good people difficult. Utility and material cost increases were felt throughout the overall budget. Total expenditures are made up of the sum of the operating budget, warrant articles that get voted on at Town Meeting, state aid offsets, and other miscellaneous expenses. While overall expenditures were up 7.6%, or $568,000 over FY23, these included stabilization spending on a $360,000 truck and free cash of $40,000 in overdue tree work.

Westhampton has been on a recent path of capital planning and careful use of reserve money in stabilization to avoid costly loans. We are prudently paying with cash when possible. Westhampton is a town with a very small commercial and industrial tax base. When additional tax revenue is needed it is mostly passed on directly to town residents. It was, therefore, with a heavy heart we felt the need to approve these increases, which will raise the average tax bill about $350 per year.

Tad Weiss, Chair, Finance Committee

Westhampton

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