The Village of Pelham Board of Trustees adopted the 2020-21 budget at special meeting April 30.

The village stayed under the state tax cap with a 2.61% increase in spending, after cutting the rise from 8%. Spending climbed because of increases of $173,000 in retirement funding, $30,000 in liability insurance, $70,000 in legal expenses and $570,000 from the new garbage contract. Mayor Chance Mullen said personnel services for the upcoming fiscal year were manageable, as a grant covered much of the cost of two additional firefighters.

Mullen said the board’s main concern is stability. As budget cuts were discussed, he said that the board only passed those that were manageable and practical for Pelham residents. A spending freeze was established on May 1, and a salary freeze has been put in place for at least the next three months.

The major change in the 2020-21 budget are the adjustments that have been made to the garbage contract. Bulk pick up currently occurs twice a month but will now be limited to once a month. Residents may contact the garbage contractors for pickups needed prior to the set date. Organic waste pick up will decrease to every other week during the back half of the year. Most drastically, household garbage will be picked up once a week rather than twice beginning in June. These cuts are estimated to save $600,000 in the next two and a half years.

Trash collection from businesses and apartment buildings will not change.

Mullen said he understands that these changes will not be popular, but for today’s circumstances it is the best option.

The pandemic is having a unique impact on the village, since a quarter of the village’s budget is not funded by the tax levy, Mullen said. He said parking meters alone used to bring in about $6,000 a week; due to the coronavirus, this revenue has gone down to about $750 weekly.

Mullen ended the meeting by saying, “We are gonna get through this. We really will.”