Lakewood residents air concerns about the tentative village budget. P-J photo By Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD – Several residents turned out Monday at a public hearing to address concerns in the tentative 2025-2026 village budget.

Village trustees fielded questions about the proposed $5,762,081 spending plan which carries a $9.77 tax rate, an increase of $1.65 from the current 2024-2025 budget, and a tax levy or amount to be raised by taxes of $2,587,640.

“This is a work in progress,” said Trustee Ben Troche.

Mayor Randy Holcomb agreed.

“At our next meeting, there will be a reduced version of the budget,” Holcomb said.

Resident R.J. Witchey commented why a large portion of the budget is for police and emergency services. Even though police and emergency services are essential, Witchey noted, he wanted to know how village officials will attempt to make reductions for police and emergency services.

Troche said the village is at a critical point where the police department was experiencing a shortage of officers. With a proposed bump in salaries, Troche said, the village now can be in line with other agencies to retain qualified officers.

“So the short answer is supply and demand,” Troche said. “There are no officers.”

Troche added that some police departments in Chautauqua County had to cut 24-hour/7-days per week patrolling, and reduce patrol hours to part-time.

“We wanted to avoid that, so their (officers) salaries have gone up. We are not the highest paid, but now we are not the lowest paid in the county,” Troche added.

“The tentative budget is being worked on,” Trustee Ellen Barnes noted.

Trustees thanked residents for expressing their concerns and giving input about the proposed spending plan.

Troche noted that officials are discussing with department heads what can be reduced.

“Nothing is off the table,” Troche added.

Residents also questioned trustees about the current revaluation by the town of Busti.

Holcomb recapped a point he had earlier in the meeting that the village has no control over the town of Busti’s revaluation.

“We don’t have a grand total of what the new assessment is, because they (town officials) are still in hearings which many people have all scheduled, and we won’t know that total until they’re done with their grievance work,” Holcomb said.

For more information on assessments residents have two options:

Option A: To request an informal hearing with the assessor, residents can call the assessor’s office at (716) 763-8561 option 6. If the assessor is unavailable, leave a voicemail. All appointments must be scheduled by Friday to be considered. All hearings will be held by phone , and in-person hearings are not available, Holcomb said at a March meeting.

Option B: To submit an assessment grievance for a review by the assessor, residents can mail it to the Assessor’s Office at 125 Chautauqua Ave., Lakewood, N.Y., 14750. It must be postmarked by April 15 to be considered.

The board of trustees will meet again on April 28 to vote on the budget.

In other business:

– Trustees rehired James Fye as a seasonal Department of Public works employee at $18.40 per hour.

– Trustees hired Bradley Gunnell as a part-time police officer to fill a vacancy at $27 per hour.

– Trustees provisionally appointed Matthew Bentley as the new Lakewood-Busti Police Department Chief with a salary of $95,000. He replaces Christopher DePonceau who retired March 7.