The Town of Shawangunk unanimously voted to exceed the state-mandated 2.0 percent tax cap for its 2024 budget at its October 19 Town Board meeting.

The vote came after a public hearing in which there was no opposition to the move during the open comment period to discuss the preliminary budget. The board will adopt the final spending plan at its next meeting on November 2, just five days before the election.

If the town exceeds the tax cap, it will mark the second straight year it has occurred. The town exceeded the tax cap in 2023 by $83,872, the first time the town had gone over the tax cap since it was implemented by New York State in 2012.

After reviewing the general fund and the highway budget at its last meeting on October 5, the board listened as Town Supervisor John Valk went over the portion of the budget that includes water and sewer districts.

The amount to be raised in taxes in the water districts decreased slightly from $33,082 to $32,438. There are no taxes raised in the sewer districts.

The amount to be raised by taxes in the general fund is currently $1,468,095, a decrease of 7.7 percent from the year before. The amount to be raised by taxes in the highway department is currently $2,379,786, an increase of 7.0 percent.

Valk said the amount to be raised by taxes in 2024 is $4,631,854, an increase of $240,186 over the 2023 budget.

Under the proposed spending plan, elected officials will receive 2.0 percent pay increases.

The supervisor’s salary increased from $37,585 to $38,226, the five board members’ salaries went from $13,484 to $13,753 each, the two town justices increased from $16,401 to $16,729 each, the town highway superintendent’s salary was increased from $58,978 to $60,157 and the town clerk’s position increased from $56,157 to $57,280.