Goshen Board of Finance Approves 2027 Budget

5/6/26 BOF Regular Meeting 7:30 PM

PRESENT: Chair Edward (Ned) Bixler, Paul Collins, Lorraine Lucas, Scott Tillmann, Vice Chairman Robert Valentine (Zoom)

The Goshen Board of Finance approved the town's 2026-27 operating budget of $4,159,651 — plus $1 million in capital — at its May 6 regular meeting, voting line by line through individual departmental budgets.

The board voted to retain Sinnamon & Associates, LLC as the town's auditor for a three-year term after receiving no responses to a request for proposals.

First Selectman Seth Breakell brought up that the annual $20,000 Goshen contribution to the Woodridge Lake sedimentation fund had been inadvertently omitted. The board learned that $71,000 in existing funds remains in the account and voted to take no action, leaving those funds available for an engineering study to identify and prioritize sedimentation and storm water projects.

Board member Lorraine Lucas presented a detailed review of Camp Coch, the town's summer recreation program. The camp is requesting $88,000 for the coming year while generating roughly $65,000 in tuition — a $23,000 gap.

Lucas called it "a little concerning," noting that 40% of the camp's roughly 40 campers come from outside Goshen. She said: “If it keeps going up, the town should not be subsidizing, especially when 40% are out of town."

It was noted out of town people pay $295, and those from Goshen pay $235. Lucas said: "So I think… Recreation needs to really look at this and come up with a way to make it more economical, I know they don't want to raise the rates, and I understand that."

The board canceled its scheduled May 20 meeting.

5/13/26 BOF Public Hearing/Regular Meeting 7:30 p.m.

The Goshen Board of Finance held its annual public budget hearing May 13, drawing one public commenter before reconvening briefly as a regular meeting to address a procedural correction.

Chairman Ned Bixler presided. James Korner was absent; alternate Patrick Reilly was seated. Robert Valentine, Paul Collins, Scott Tillmann and Lorraine Lucas were also present.

Henrietta Horvay raised two concerns. First, she noted that minutes had not reflected that some salary increases above the board's approved 3.5% rate were based on a compensation matrix tied to tenure and position.

Bixler thanked Horvay, agreeing minutes should have been clearer on the matrix, with board member Tillmann making it clear there was a lengthy discussion on the subject.

Horvay also flagged a potential numerical discrepancy between two budget documents, but the board explained they were two different figures.

Chair Bixler added: "Henrietta, you've always been coming to this particular public hearing for our budget, and you always, I believe, you've almost always had a comment or questions, so we appreciate that. We know somebody's looking at the budget. Thank you. "

The public hearing closed after about 10 minutes with no further comment.

During the regular meeting, Bixler disclosed he had inadvertently voted on the elections budget at the May 6 meeting, though he customarily abstains because his wife serves as a registrar.

He added: "For the record, for the later television audiences, I don't want to run anymore, because I think it's an underpaid, overworked position. Thank you."

The Board then re-voted with Bixler abstaining.

The 15-minute meeting adjourned.