OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Brocton Mayor Craig Miller, left, and Trustee Drew Ransom, right, listen to public comments during the Village’s budget hearing.

BROCTON — The tax rate in the Village of Brocton has steadily increased each year since 2018-19. That will not be the case this coming year.

Mayor Craig Miller and the Brocton Village Board proudly approved the 2026-27 Village of Brocton Budget at a recent meeting, featuring a tax rate reduction of four cents per thousand dollars of assessed value. The new Village Tax Rate will be $9.81 per thousand.

“We did the best we could in bringing it down, but keeping the services the same,” Miller said.

The Village Tax Cap in 2026-27 was $274,730 on $26,928,777 of total taxable value, but the Village stayed under the tax cap by more than $10,000. The amount to be raised by taxes in 2026-27 is $264,329, which is nearly identical to last year’s amount of $265,122.

The General Fund amount in the 2026-27 Village Budget is $882,213; the Water Fund is $276,821; the Sewer Fund is $496,254; the Electric Fund is $1,066,766; and the Brocton-Portland Water Fund is $1,023,684. Together, the total amount for appropriations is $3,745,738. The estimated revenues total $3,244,048.

The Village is applying $120,000 in unreserved fund balance to the General Fund; $30,641 to the Water Fund; $2,896 to the Sewer Fund; and $83,824 to the Electric Fund for a total of $237,361 of unreserved fund balance applied to the budget. The Brocton-Portland Water Fund is not supported by any unreserved fund balance in the 2026-27 budget.

The General Fund amount is down roughly $6,500 from last year; the Sewer Fund is nearly identical from year to year; and the Electric Fund is up roughly $15,000. However, with the Brocton-Portland Water Fund combined with the Water Fund line, including debt service, the Village is budgeting $1,300,505 for water, compared to $1,369,976 last year. Village employees receive a 4% pay increase as part of the new budget.

“We looked at every line in the budget, and what we didn’t use all of last year, we lowered. We juggled and balanced,” Miller said.

The new Village Tax Rate is not only lower than last year’s amount, but also lower than the rate in 2024-25. The Village Tax Rate was over $11 per thousand each year from 2013-14 through 2017-18, until a sizable drop in 2018-19 brought the rate to $9.59 per thousand. The rate increased slightly each year from then until the latest budget was approved.

The only public comments during the budget hearing were made by Dave Hazelton, a former Village Trustee. Hazelton is an Emergency Medical Technician with the Brocton Fire Department.

Hazelton noted that after receiving its revenue from fire protection services and ambulance billing, the net cost to Brocton taxpayers is $22,250. Hazelton stated that equates to roughly 83.5 cents per thousand for fire protection in the village.

The Brocton Volunteer Fire Department responded to 434 calls in 2025, with 2,194 sign-ins at a call. That equates to just over five members per call. “I’ll put that up against even some of the paid departments,” Hazelton said.

Additionally, the Village pledged to make a donation to the Ahira Hall Memorial Library’s Music in the Park summer concert series. Six artists will perform at Ryckman Park, spanning from July 9 to Aug. 13. The Village Board also expressed a willingness to support the Brocton-Portland Little League in renovating its facilities.

The next meeting of the Brocton Village Board will be on Monday, May 18, rather than the typical third Wednesday of the month.