Wheatfield reviewing tentative budget

By Benjamin Joe

The tentative 2026 budget has been presented to the Town of Wheatfield Town Board by Supervisor Don MacSwan.

“While there are still some concerns about the inflation rate of this country, I’m pleased to report the Town of Wheatfield will be providing the same services the town has provided in the past,” he said at the board’s regular business meeting on Monday. “However, because of the costs in providing these services are increasing, the 2026 tentative budget does include a slight property tax increase of $16.62 for $573.24 in 2025 to $589.86 in 2026. For the typical home owner in the Town of Wheatfield with the assessed value of $125,000, or market value of $347,000, this represents a 2.90%.”

MacSwan said the increase is largely due to the increased expenditure of $400,000 for refuse removal and recycling. A contract for eight years with Modern Disposal was set earlier this year.

The tentative budget can be found at the town’s website.

In other news:

•Paving season for the Town of Wheatfield is finished, said Highway Superintendent Paul Siegmann.

“We finished up paving last week,” he said. “We did Pine Lake. That’s it for this year. We did do a lot of roads.”

Siegmann also updated the board on the Fairmont parking lot. The lot was in need of repairs, but a third-party bid was too costly for the town, which prompted the Highway Department to do the job in house.

Siegmann said the lot will hopefully be finished in the spring of 2026, though if the weather holds, it might be done in winter.

“That (in-house job) saves the town $100,000,” Councilman Larry Helwig said.

•Water and Sewer Department Head Mark Clark said his department is still looking for the necessary amount of water samples to appease federal guidelines regarding lead, set up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The goal is 60 samples from households around Wheatfield, but the response has been lukewarm as only 24 households have responded.

“Some people are more than willing; other people are too busy in life; and some people are like ‘No,’ ” Clark reported. “But we’ll get there.”

MacSwan also said, “Some people just don’t trust government.”

•The Wheatfield Recreation Department is taking signups for youth basketball clinics. The form is currently on the recreation department’s website. Registration is underway for boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 12. Girls’ basketball will run on Tuesdays from 6-7:30 p.m., starting Nov. 4 and running until Dec. 9. Boys’ basketball starts Nov. 5 and runs until Dec. 10. It will be held Wednesdays between 6-7:30 p.m. at the Wheatfield Youth Center’s gymnasiums at 2795 Church Road.

Resident players will be charged $40 each while non-residents will pay $80 each, with both getting a 20% discount for each additional child.

Leagues for girls will start in January for ages 7-12, as well as for boys ages 7-9 and 10-12.

The fee is $50 per resident player, or $90 for non-residents, with 20% discounts for each additional child.

•MacSwan noted pistol permit classes are being offered by the Niagara Gun Range, probably before January 2026, with a reduced rate for Wheatfield residents. He noted two classes may be held this year, as last year held such a demand that many applicants were unable to attend.

While the date has not been set, MacSwan said he’d like to start a preregistration for Wheatfield residents.

“The last time they offered this class, with a reduced rate for Wheatfield residents – considerably reduced rate – we had to turn people away. We hate to do that. So, if we get so many people who are interested in a class, we’ll have two classes,” he said.

MacSwan said interested applicants can contact his office or the town clerk’s office about preregistration.