Fredonia Village Board was far too quiet about the recent contract approved with its Fire Department staff. In a meeting earlier this month, the board — with Mayor Michael Ferguson’s tie-breaking vote — passed the deal.

But, unfortunately, no one on the board offered specifics regarding the plan. We do know the contract contains pay raises for the firefighters, but dollar figures were not explicitly specified — except in comments by Trustee Ben Brauchler, who suggested they would lead to property tax hikes. The new contract is to expire May 31, 2029.

Those “no” votes are most concerning, especially for a village that raised taxes 54% last spring as well as the sewer and water rates.

“I’m not going to second this, because I’m not going to vote aye on this contract, because of the unknown costs for our budget,” Trustee Michelle Twichell said.

“I have a lot of difficulty with this one,” Brauchler said. “I did discuss the costs of this at our workshop and we are baking in a 3% (annual) increase in our taxes in future years going forward with this, so I am going to say no.”

This board was not responsible for the expansion of the Fire Department that added staff more than a decade ago on the premise it would increase village revenues through its ambulance system. Overstated proposed revenues from that effort put the municipality in fiscal trouble — and was a main factor in the last tax hike.

This contract, without full details, is far from reassuring after what happened last year.