The Town of Shawangunk unanimously passed a resolution to set a public hearing to discuss exceeding the state-mandated 2.0 percent tax cap after unveiling its 2024 tentative budget at its October 5 meeting.

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.

The board began reviewing the budget at this month’s meeting. 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.

The total amount to be raised in taxes is $6,770,575, but the figure does not include the Wallkill Fire District.

The next phase in the budget process will be the release of the preliminary budget.

The 2024 budget will mark the final one under longtime Supervisor John Valk, who is not seeking re-election.

“The town budget isn’t over the tax cap, but because of the ambulance coverage and Walker Valley Fire Company (spending) it puts it over the tax cap,” Valk said. “So, we need to do a local law and set the public hearing for two weeks from tonight. If we do work on the budget and we decide by some miracle that we’re not going over the cap, we can always just not pass the law.”

Valk said he had discussed the budget with Ken Ronk Jr., who will take over as Town Supervisor in 2024 (he is unopposed).

At Ronk’s request, Valk added an extra $20,000 for a grant writer.

“Ken and I sat and talked about things he’d like to do,” Valk said. “So, I budgeted for the future supervisor to do what he’d like to do.”

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.

In other news, the board voted to accept three Narcan boxes from the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office Opioid Response as County Law Enforcement (ORACLE) initiative.

The town will distribute the boxes at three locations in an effort to prevent overdoses. The Narcan nasal spray (Naloxone) is a potentially life-saving antidote to suspected opioid overdoses.

Detective Damon Alberts of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department made a presentation to the board about the value of the Narcan kits. He said they would be made available to the Town of Shawangunk at no cost.

The sites under consideration for the Narcan boxes would include the local rail trail between the town and the village of Walden, the Verkeerder Kill Park and the town hall.