Not one person showed up for the Highlands Town Board’s public hearing on the preliminary 2027 town budget.

Thus, the board is expected to adopt the $8,963,480 spending plan at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 9.

The budget is up just under $600,000 from the 2026 budget, and comes in at $71 under the state’s mandated tax cap.

“When we started the budget process in September, the tentative budget was $29,945 over the tax cap,” Supervisor Bob Livsey said in opening the hearing. “Over the next four weeks we were able to cut $82,331 from our expenses, and we increased revenues by $117,685. We also increased the amount of fund balance being used from $120,000 to $220,000.”

If adopted, residents can expect to see an approximate 31 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value increases on their property taxes. In 2026 the tax rate is $11.4299 per $1000 assessed value; in 2027 the rate will be $11.7456 per $1000 assessed value.

The board also held the mandatory hearings on the water and sewer districts on Monday evening, and hired a part-time Dial-A-Bus driver, Vanessa Yates, in one matter of regular business.