POLAND – The town’s preliminary budget is set to include a large reduction in tax rates for residents. This comes at an increasingly important time for the town, with a contested town supervisor debate ongoing, and soon to go to election.

Robert Smith, current Poland Town Board member and candidate for town supervisor, said the town’s preliminary budget suggests that this will be the fourth year in a row that town residents will see a drop in tax rates. The preliminary budget has not been approved yet, and is still waiting to be voted on by the Town Board at the budget workshop meeting on Nov. 3, according to Smith.

While not set in stone, Smith said he does not foresee any large changes occurring to this budget before the vote. This preliminary budget currently shows an estimated 30.52% cut to tax rates within the town. Smith noted that this could mean roughly $100 in saving on a $100,000 house. Large tax reduction seems to have been the norm for the town over the past few years. For the 2025 tax season, town residents saw a 37.60% decrease in tax rates from the previous year, with a 9.89% decrease on the tax levy. Before that, for the 2024 tax season, the town saw a 17.93% decrease in tax rates from the year before, with a 17.73% decrease to the tax levy. Smith said Poland’s tax rate would be the fourth-lowest in the county.

Smith said that the town has been able to reallocate these savings to residents taxes due to an increase in taxes being received in other forms. Smith noted that the town has seen a significant increase in sales tax revenue since a new law was passed in June 2019. The town remained focused on passing these savings along to local residents, said Smith.

This tax cut, as proposed by the preliminary budget, comes during a contested race for town supervisor. The race is currently between Smith and Independent candidate Tommy Fox. During this campaign cycle, Smith said there has been a growing sentiment of negative rhetoric, which involved accusations of corruption and inappropriate spending. Smith claimed that these accusations are simply nothing more than uninformed rhetoric, and pointed to the consistent tax decreases as evidence to support his claim of responsible spending. Fox did not agree with these statements, claiming that no such accusations were made during a recent debate.

Voting for town supervisor and other town offices will take place Tuesday, Nov. 4. A public hearing to discuss the preliminary budget will occur at 6:45 p.m. today, Nov. 3.