From left are Ellicott Town Board members Kenneth Swan and James Rensel and Amy Bellardo, town clerk. P-J photo by Owen Reed

FALCONER – The Ellicott Town Board has approved its 2026 budget with slight tax increases for residents.

The town took a vote to approve the final budget for 2026 at the most recent town board meeting on Nov. 3. The town is responsible for collecting taxes for the villages of Falconer and Celoron as well, which are both likely to see a slight increase in tax rates as well. For 2026, the total tax levy amount for outside of villages is $2,130,106.22, according to the preliminary budget. This is an increase from the 2025 levy amount of $2,070,556.33. This means that the tax rate for the town residents will be about $4.746516 per $1,000 of assessed valuation , an increase from the town’s 2025 rate of $4.634874 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The two villages within the town are looking at a slight increase in tax rates as well. Falconer is looking at a tax levy amount of $490,964.78, according to the preliminary budget. This is a slight increase from the 2025 levy amount of $485,837.51. This will likely cause rates to increase from the 2025 rate of $4.626982 per $1,000 of assessed valuation to $4.746516 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for the village. Celoron will also see a tax levy increase from $192,435.16 in 2025 to about $199,022 for 2026, according to the preliminary budget. The Celoron tax rate, which was the same as Falconer’s in 2025, is expected to increase to the same rate as well. This could bring the total collected amount for both the town and villages to $2,820,093.00 for 2026, which is almost $60,000 more that the total collection amount from 2025.

Town board members trim the proposed tax increase from the initial budget proposal. Environmental control was one area the town was able to save money on, with the initial version of the tentative budget including $20,000 going to environmental control before cutting the line item to $15,000 in the final budget. Other areas that are seeing slight reduction from the initial tentative draft include building contractual expenses, unallocated insurance, and police and constable personal services.