Albion approves village budget with 2.5% tax increase
One trustee pushed for 1% increase, but mayor said that would have taken too much from fund balance
Photos by Tom Rivers: (Left) Albion Mayor Tim McMurray speaks during Wednesday’s Village Board meeting when he said the village budget is beyond bare bones with any additional cuts into “bone marrow.” (Right) Trustee Kevin Sheehan wanted the board to take $50,000 more from the fund balance to lower the tax increase to 1.0 percent.
ALBION – The Albion Village Board adopted the 2026-27 village budget on Wednesday that will increase taxes by 2.5 percent.
One trustee, Kevin Sheehan, sought to use $50,000 from the village fund balance which would have reduced the tax increase to 1.0 percent. But Mayor Tim McMurray said that would have left the village with too little of a cushion for any unanticipated expenses in the new fiscal year that starts June 1.
The mayor said Albion has old waterlines, infrastructure and equipment, which could result in a big bill if something breaks and needs to be replaced.
The 2.5 percent increase follows a budget from a year ago that raised taxes by 11 percent, and that was when the fire department was moved out of the village budget into its own taxing entity with a fire district.
The new budget totals $9,371,115 with the General Fund at $4,890,354, the Water Fund at $2,927,243 and Sewer at $1,554,518.
The water and sewer funds are self-supporting through water and sewer bills. Property taxes go towards the General Fund, which increased by 2.7 percent or $126,399 – from $4,763,955 to $4,890,354.
The village’s tax levy will go up by $85,221.61 or 2.5 percent from $3,463,463.38 to $3,548,685. The tax rate will increase 2.4 percent or 38 cents from $15.99 to $16.37 per $1,000 of assessed property.
The owner of an house assessed for $140,300 would see an increase in village taxes by $53.28 from $2,244.09 to $2,297.37, village officials said.
Chart data from Albion Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Van Skiver. Note: The fire department is out of the village budget but the village still owns the fire hall and is responsible for its maintenance.
The budget is only taking $5,900 from the fund balance. In many past budgets in recent years, the budget was able to tap into $200,000 or more of fund balance which lowered the tax rate. (The village in the current 2025-26 budget used $64,000 in its fund balance compared to $261,150 in 2024-25.)
The village currently only has $242,000 in fund balance. McMurray said the state comptroller would like to see Albion with about 20 percent of the general fund as a fund balance, or nearly $1 million to help weather emergency expenses. Albion also has $250,000 in reserve funds to help with future equipment needs.
Sheehan sought to take $50,000 more out of the fund balance which would have put that fund below $200,000.
“That will bring the rate down,” he said. “I’m all about lowering taxes.”
But McMurray said reducing the fund balance only sets Albion up for big tax hikes in the future. He said previous village boards dwindled the fund balance down far too low, leaving the more recent board in a difficult position with the budget.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting new results,” he said.
Sheehan was on some of those boards when the fund balance was bigger and used to help hold taxes at minimal increases.
“I take offense when you say ‘previous boards,’” Sheehan responded to McMurray. “I was on three boards. There’s ways to get through it.”
Sheehan said state grant programs can help the village with some of the equipment needs.
Sheehan opposed the budget as presented on Wednesday, while McMurray, and trustees William Gabalski and Jami Allport voted yes.
The village’s tax base barely grew in the past year after seeing a huge jump a year ago after reassessments. The village’s taxable valuation went up 41.6 percent or by $63,666,806 – from $152,867,932 to $216,534,738 in 2025.
However, this time the tax base grew by less than 0.1 percent or $182,846 from $216,534,738 to $216,717,584.
