The evening of 2026-04-07 was the Honeoye Falls Annual Meeting, and before that the Public Hearing for next years Budget.
The budget was approved. Tax rate remains flat, and we stay within the levy limit. Overall budget is ~$2.8 million, with ~$600k coming from the local property tax levy.
During the budget discussion it was pointed out the Ambulance contract, and the formula at it’s core, is being reviewed. Both with the Town, but also with an unnamed third party. Seems prudent, since in a ‘multitude of counsellors there is safety‘. And even if nothing comes of it, review should increase understanding.
While the size of the audience felt smaller then some years, there were still a decent sized number of people in attendance. Although, by the end of the meeting, all but two of us had been appointed to one village function or other. Which has happened before.
Jacqueline Main is the new Deputy Mayor. Dan Harris was thanked for his years of service in this role. But alas, too busy with other things to sit in that seat again this year.
Village Board meetings are generally on the third Monday of each month. But as has become the pattern, January and February will be on Tuesday, due to holidays. If it was me, I would say meet Monday anyways, regardless of the holidays. But it’s not. And ~8 month notice is plenty. Although I’ll probably still grumble about it when those meetings roll around.
The Wednesday morning before the Monday meeting there is a workshop for the Trustees. If there is any interest, these are open to the public, as there is a quorum. No formal actions are taken though, those would be done during the Monday (or Tuesday) night meetings. But now you know they happen, full transparency and all that.
In the long list of officials this and that’s, a list of electricians were recognized. Happens every year, no big deal. I’m only mentioning because it was amusing to hear a bunch of groups (I want to say four), followed by a single individual, John Polito. Nice to hear the Village recognize talent in both organizations as well as individual residents. Even if that probably wasn’t the intent.
The boring part of the meeting took ~20 minutes. Which was made all the more ironic as Rick (Mayor) started his speech off by making a joke about how long he was going to talk and that we might fall asleep. I appreciated the humor, but his speech is the more interesting part of this event. Although the cookies made a good showing too.
I would say his main theme was change. Change with having new housing built, with new fire trucks, with upgrading the sewer plant, with financial challenges, and the recently announced urgent care facility. And also the changes more residents filling those new houses will bring.
Rick did make a point of asking for volunteers. If you are willing to help as fire fighter, ambulance crew, or committee member, he wants to hear from you. Or if you just want to volunteer in general, make an offer.
As an aside, this meeting usually happens on Monday. So I wondered why it was a Tuesday this year. The answer I was given: too many people away for Easter. Fair enough, Easter is worth celebrating.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the April 7, 2026 Annual Meeting of the Honeoye Falls Board of Trustees.