The Ancram Town Board unanimously adopted two local laws at its Sept. 17 meeting establishing new property tax exemptions for seniors and people with disabilities. The board also discussed a tentative 2027 budget and a draft resolution opposing the use of Flock Safety automated license plate readers in Columbia County.
The local laws establish property tax exemptions based on a sliding income scale recently adopted by Columbia County. Under the new schedule, seniors and people with disabilities with annual incomes of $45,000 or less will qualify for a 50% property tax exemption, while those with incomes between $52,500 and $53,399.99 will qualify for a 5% exemption.
“At the county level, the real property [tax service agency] did a quick analysis to find out how much it would cost, and it’s roughly five cents per thousand for the residents in Ancram,” Supervisor Colleen Lutz said. “So it’s a fairly small amount.”
2027 Tentative Budget
The board reviewed a tentative 2027 budget that includes a 9.5% tax increase. The increase would require support from 60% of the Town Board to pass.
“That increase amounts to $67,165, or roughly $56 a household if you divided it up equally amongst all households,” Lutz said.
The largest reduction in the tentative budget was a $50,000 cut to the highway department. Lutz said the reduction would leave the town without a reserve for capital equipment purchases, including the replacement of a 15-year-old payloader.
Other reductions include cutting the Planning Board budget from $5,000 to $3,000 and the Zoning Revisions Committee budget from $3,000 to $1,500. Lutz also said the town’s insurance costs are projected to rise by 12%.
The board will hold a budget workshop at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, followed by a public hearing on the preliminary budget at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15. The final budget is scheduled to be adopted by Nov. 20.
Flock Safety
The board discussed a draft resolution opposing the use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras in Columbia County. The resolution would urge the county Board of Supervisors to refrain from purchasing or deploying the technology, with an exception for standard traffic-counting devices.
“We don’t have a police force. 
If we did, then it would be much more critical to pass that resolution, because we would have control over this,” Lutz said. “At the county level, the sheriff’s office, we don’t have that type of control. But we can enter in our resolution expressing our overall concern about the APLR service.”
The board did not vote on the resolution at its Sept. 17 meeting.
Committee Attendance Policy
The board also discussed a potential attendance policy for town committee members that would allow committee chairs to remove members after three consecutive unexcused absences or four total absences in a year.
“We do not have an official attendance policy,” Lutz said. “It’s always been kind of unspoken, up to the committee chair, how they wanted to handle it. This is an attempt to help give our committee chairs guidance and people that are volunteering guidance on what’s expected of them over their attendance.”
Board member Jennifer Boice suggested revisiting the policy at the board’s 2027 organizational meeting so new rules could take effect at the start of committee members’ terms.
Board member David Boice disagreed, arguing that such decisions should remain with the Town Board rather than committee chairs. He also questioned how “excused” absences would be defined and verified.
The board tabled the resolution.
The board also approved a resolution moving Darren Mosher from an alternate position on the Planning Board to a full voting position.
In other town news, the Ancram Fire District held a special vote Sept. 22 on a resolution authorizing the purchase of a new fire truck, a Darley Tactical Pumper CV 515 with a 400-gallon tank, financed through the issuance of $450,000 in serial bonds.
The resolution passed 68-3. Fire Chief David Boice said replacing one truck from the district’s five-truck fleet every five years is standard procedure and that the purchase would not contribute to an increase in taxes.