OBSERVER file photo A 65% property tax hike has been approved in the village of Fredonia.

The Fredonia Board of Trustees have narrowly passed a 2025-26 village budget with a 65% property tax increase.

Trustees voted Monday to approve the budget. The tally was 3-2. Trustees Ben Brauchler, Jon Espersen and Nicole Siracuse provided the “aye” votes, while Trustees Michelle Twichell and Paul Wandel voted against the budget.

The budget moves Fredonia’s property rate to $61.09 per $1,000 assessed value, from the current $36.95. Village officials say it will raise taxes by an average of $540 per house.

Wandel wanted to table the budget for further discussion, but only Twichell supported that. The trustees had a workshop before beginning their regular meeting, and Espersen and Siracuse told Wandel he should have brought up his concerns during the workshop.

Twichell accused Espersen of denying another budget meeting last week and complained he still won’t meet with her on the spending plan. Espersen said she requested a meeting on short notice at the same time he was taking his wife to a doctor’s appointment, and sarcastically asked if he should clear his wife’s appointments with Twichell.

Espersen warned that the village must pass a budget by May 1. “I’m going to say aye because of the impact if we don’t pass this in the next couple days,” he said. “We had four weeks, we had four meetings to get this budget together.”

Twichell indicated earlier that one of the reasons for her “no” vote was a $20 fee enacted for users of the summer children’s recreation program.

The trustees also blew up their previously enacted guideline that the village must keep a reserve equal to between 10% and 25% of the budget. The resolution to freeze the guideline promised an annual review of it. That measure passed unanimously.