Departments have asked. The BEA decides.
Departments sent in their 2027 requests, and they are posted on the Treasurer's page of the city website.1 The BEA reviews them department by department, then sends a budget to the Council by November 10.2 Department reviews began Monday, September 28; overall reviews are scheduled for November 2 through 6.3 How the budget gets made →
A request isn't the budget. The BEA can cut any of these before November 10.
Together, 22 departments asked for $1.23M more
These 22 departments posted a request with a total. They had $8.76M in the 2026 budget and asked for $10.00M for 2027.14 The change for each:
No change: Registrar of Vital Statistics, Records Management, Animal Control, Street paving (CHIPS and state aid). Not posted yet, or posted without a total: Assessor, Housing Trust Fund and other, Treasurer, City Attorney, Conservation Advisory Council, Planning Board, Nondepartmental (benefits, debt, insurance), revenue estimates.
How fast the levy can grow
State law limits how fast the city's property tax levy can grow each year. The Council can vote to go over the limit.5 The 2026 city levy grew from $5.75 million to $5.97 million.6
We don't yet know whether that was over the city's legal limit. If it was, going over took a separate Council vote, apart from the budget the Council voted down 8 to 3.
Reference
Every request, against 2026
| Department | 2026 adopted | 2027 request | Document and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1010 Common Council | $187,541 | $139,841 | Clerk 2027 Budget Spreadsheet.xlsx |
| 1210 Mayor's Office | $303,809 | $225,167 | Mayors Office and ADA Proposed Budget 2027.xlsx Housing Director line falls from $84,460 to $20,000; the sheet says the director will leave the role and administer grants on a 1099 basis. A separate note proposes $5,680 in year one for website ADA compliance, likely under Public Information. |
| 1410 City Clerk | $189,870 | $210,377 | Clerk 2027 Budget Spreadsheet.xlsx The sheet also gives $206,319.91 'W/O Raise', without a proposed raise for the City Clerk. |
| 1460 Records Management | $250 | $250 | Clerk 2027 Budget Spreadsheet.xlsx |
| 1490 DPW Administration | $103,181 | $102,181 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 1620 City Buildings | $167,050 | $175,050 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 3020 Electrician services | $38,000 | $45,000 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 3120 Police | $3,854,022 | $4,547,929 | HPD 2027 1st Budget Request Report.xlsx Includes $23,520 in grant-funded lines. Excludes a separate $144,563.68 'HPD Retirement Contingency' requested in the citywide Contingency account (1990). Salaries are budgeted with 0% raises, pending a contract; the sheet notes a 26th officer position was cut. |
| 3320 Parking | $252,694 | $265,602 | Parking Bureau 2027 1st Budget Request Report.xlsx |
| 3410 Fire | $271,750 | $297,025 | HFD Requested Budget 2027.pdf |
| 3510 Animal Control | $10,000 | $10,000 | Clerk 2027 Budget Spreadsheet.xlsx |
| 3620 Code Enforcement | $166,021 | $180,724 | Code Enforcement Budget 2027.xlsx The sheet's 2026 column ($193,256) is higher than the 2026 adopted budget ($166,021), consistent with a mid-year amendment. Its Personal Services tab adds to $153,877 for 2026 while the summary tab shows $173,756. |
| 4020 Registrar of Vital Statistics | $5,835 | $6,008 | Clerk 2027 Budget Spreadsheet.xlsx Also $5,879.33 without the proposed raise. |
| 5110 Street Maintenance | $895,545 | $1,047,651 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 5112 Street paving (CHIPS and state aid) | $923,287 | $923,287 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 5142 Snow Removal | $92,000 | $120,000 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 5182 Street Lighting | $38,600 | $84,000 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 7110 Parks | $135,324 | $167,304 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 7310 Youth Department | $715,869 | $770,538 | _ FIRST DRAFT _ 2027 HYD Budget Proposal (SHARED) - OVERALL with notations.pdf Marked 'FIRST DRAFT'. The same sheet reports 2024 adopted $759,525, 2025 requested $844,932 and 2025 adopted $798,502. |
| 7620 Senior Center | $85,221 | $111,046 | Senior Center Budget 2027 - Sheet1.pdf The column headers read 2027 then 2026, but the first column's total ($85,221) equals the 2026 adopted budget, so the headers appear reversed. The request is read here as $111,046. |
| 8160 Waste Collection | $284,486 | $531,163 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
| 8170 Street Cleaning | $43,000 | $37,000 | 2027 Budget Worksheet - General.pdf |
2026 is the department's total in the Treasurer's 2026 ledger. A request document can cover different lines than the ledger, and some print their own, different 2026 figure; those are in the notes. Totals: $8,763,355 in 2026, $9,997,142 requested.
Requests with no total
- Assessor: A letter, not a full budget: requests a $37,000 salary (1355.0100), $250 for printing (1355.0410), and a laptop with no amount given.
- Housing Trust Fund and other: The letter requests $28,000 for FY 2027; the attached table totals $49,000, with a footnote that the committee allocated $15,000 of current funds to Hudson Roots. The memo's subject line reads 'FY 2026 Budget Request'.
- Treasurer: Line-by-line request with no printed total. Personal Services $224,642.75; software licenses and support $79,112.49; fiscal year audit $19,080.
Water, sewer and cemetery
- Cemetery: $575,557 requested; the request document shows $547,760 for 2026. The DPW General worksheet's summary lists Cemetery at $532,992 (2026) and $550,862 (2027), different from this worksheet.
- Water: $1,724,384 requested; the request document shows $1,633,588 for 2026.
- Sewer: $1,791,385 requested; the request document shows $1,718,399 for 2026.
What we're still checking
- The BEA session dates between October 14 and November 2.
- How the November 2–6 reviews fit the charter, which has the BEA meeting through November 1.
- Whether the 2026 city levy was over the limit, and city levies for 2019–2024.
Sources
- City of Hudson Treasurer, 2027 department budget requests, on the Treasurer's page of the city website. hudsonny.gov Retrieved and entered by hand 2026-09-29; each document is named in the table above.
- City of Hudson Charter, Article XVI. ecode360.com §§C16-1 and C16-3.
- Carole Osterink, "Crafting the 2027 Budget," The Gossips of Rivertown (Sep 27, 2026). gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com
- City of Hudson Treasurer, General Ledger, "Adopted Citywide Budget," Fiscal Year 2026, printed 1/28/2026. hudsonny.gov
- NYS ORPTS, The Property Tax Cap: Guidelines for Implementation (Pub. 1000, Oct 2011). tax.ny.gov
- 2025: Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon, Hudson 2025 budget, Daily Gazette / HV360 (Nov 27, 2024), dailygazette.com. 2026: the Treasurer's ledger, "REAL PROPERTY TAXES" $5,972,844. Vote: Spenser Walsh, Daily Gazette / HV360 (Nov 28, 2025), dailygazette.com