Town of Clarence — Town Board
Clarence adopted its 2027 budget in a nine-minute meeting. The public hearing drew no speakers from an audience of two, both of whom the Supervisor invited to talk by name. The board had no comments either. This answers the question our October 28 brief had to leave open.
A week ago this publication reported that a 74-minute Clarence Town Board meeting on October 28 contained no reference to the 2027 budget at all — no “levy,” no “tax cap,” no “override” — and that three public hearings had been set for November 18, none of them the budget hearing. We named the likeliest innocent explanation and asked the Town Clerk.[3]
The answer is simpler than that: the hearing was November 4, and the board moved the meeting forward a week to hold it. The Supervisor said why at the top: “we're having this town board meeting… only a week later because of Veterans Day falling on Wednesday next week.”[1]
The hearing itself was the last substantive business of a short morning, called just after 10:15. The Supervisor's statement is the whole of the town's public case for its budget, and it is worth quoting in full because there is not much of it:
“We have our preliminary budget and special district assignment rolls for the town of Clarence for the year 2027. I'd certainly like to thank all the hard work that went into our budget. We are below the tax cap. I kept the tax rate the same — and without the cooperation of the fire companies and all our town employees and our department heads we couldn't continue to do what we do every year by controlling our costs in the town of Clarence.”[1]
And the framing he chose, which is a deliberate narrowing:
“As I mentioned in our work session today, I can't control what happens in the world or New York State or Erie County, but certainly my responsibility and our responsibility is to run the town of Clarence — and again our 2027 budget accomplishes that.”[1]
Then the hearing. “This is a public hearing. Would any of the two people like to speak? Kevin? No? Bob? No, you don't want to talk at all? Okay.”[1]
Two people in the room, both addressed by first name, neither speaking. The hearing was moved closed and carried. The Supervisor then turned to his own colleagues — “I should ask the town board. Did you have any comments at all?” — and got “No, sir. Nothing.”[1]
The adopting motion followed immediately: that after a public hearing duly held, the board “adopts their preliminary budget and special district assignment rolls for the town of Clarence for the year 2027 as the adopted budget for 2027.” Moved, seconded, carried on a voice vote.[1]
What the public record now contains is a budget adopted on two claims and no numbers. “Below the tax cap” and “the tax rate the same” were the only quantitative statements made — no total appropriation, no levy figure, no percentage, no comparison to 2026 was spoken at any point. Both claims are checkable against the filed budget, and residents who want the numbers will have to read it.
Clarence and Amherst share a border and settled their 2027 budgets nine days apart. They went opposite ways.
| Amherst Oct 26 | Clarence Nov 4 | |
| Tax cap | Overridden | Stayed under |
| Levy change | +6.9% | not stated |
| Tax rate | not stated | unchanged |
| Budget adopted? | No — hearing closed, no vote | Yes |
| Board questions | “No questions” | “No, sir. Nothing.” |
The one thing both share is silence. Neither board asked its own supervisor a question about the budget, and neither hearing drew a speaker.[4]
On October 28 this board made four transfers out of its 2026 personal services account, totalling $130,000, each adopted without discussion.[3]
On November 4 it made a fifth: “$12,000 from account personal services to account improvements.” Moved, seconded, nothing on the question, carried.
That is $142,000 moved out of salaries in eight days, across five transfers, with no discussion recorded on any of them — in the same fortnight the board adopted a budget it described as holding the line on costs. The two facts are not inconsistent; a year-end underspend on salaries is exactly what gets swept. But the pattern is the kind of thing a budget hearing exists to surface, and nobody raised it at either meeting.
Everything else was routine, and the whole of it fits in a paragraph each.[1]
A highway hire. On the Highway Superintendent's recommendation, a named appointee to the open full-time Highway Department laborer step one position, at a union rate of $29.11 per hour under the town's blue collar unit contract, starting November 23, subject to pre-employment requirements. Carried.
A fence, at the lowest bid. A quote dated October 20 accepted for town sports court fencing materials, not to exceed $15,891, from a named supplier, paid from a 2026 parks improvements budget line. A member noted “They were the lowest bid.” Carried.
The court project itself is running against the weather. Paving was scheduled for Monday the 9th with temperatures dropping after, and the assessment from the dais was candid: “we're gonna struggle to get the bottom courts done.” The fencing goes up next year, after the courts are finished. One member was volunteered to explain the delay to users, to some amusement.
A commemorative marker, as a condition of a purchase. The most substantive added motion of the morning: when the town bought the property at 4055 Harris Road, the purchase agreement committed it to place a marker on the site. The board approved the text, honouring a family who arrived in the United States in 1845 with four sons, served in the Civil War, and whose descendants have lived on Harris Road across five generations.[1]
The Supervisor added a local-history footnote from the dais: the same family, he believes, “besides owning property in town of Clarence owned where Buffalo Crushstone is now,” and a local park “was part of their property also — so that's why we're placing this marker.” He flagged it himself as belief rather than record (“I strongly believe”), and this brief reports it the same way.[1]
And the small civic business. Clubhouse applications approved. A Historical Society presentation announced for November 10 at the Town Park Clubhouse on a local cemetery. The Lions' playground project reported as nearing final design. And one councilman's Halloween tally, after being listed on a community Facebook page: “I ended up with 425 people and over 20 pounds of candy.” Another had 28 children.[1]
One remark belongs on the record because it is about the board itself. Discussing who would field complaints about the unfinished courts, a member said: “Well, that'll be the end of my term. I'll be unemployed.” The meeting was the morning after Election Day, and a Buffalo committee officer made a comparable remark the same week.[5]
Also for the good of the town: nobody. The public participation slot was announced at one minute per speaker and drew no one, and the meeting adjourned with “no other comments.” One item — described only as something “not signed off” yet — was pushed to the next meeting.[1]
All five members answered the roll: Councilmen Robert Altieri, Daniel Michnik, Paul Shear and Peter DiCostanzo, and Supervisor Patrick Casilio, who chairs. Councilman Michnik, absent on October 28, was back. Every vote was a collective voice vote with no count announced, so this brief reports outcomes and describes no vote as unanimous; no “no,” abstention or recusal occurs anywhere in the meeting.
The Supervisor stated the budget is below the tax cap and holds the tax rate unchanged, and credited fire companies, employees and department heads with cost control. No total, levy figure, percentage or prior-year comparison was spoken.
Two members of the public were present and were each invited by name; neither spoke. The board was asked for comments and had none. Hearing closed and the preliminary budget adopted as the 2027 budget.
2026 general fund. Taken with nothing on the question. Brings the total moved out of the personal services account since October 28 to $142,000 across five transfers, none of them discussed.
On the Highway Superintendent's recommendation, to the open full-time laborer step one position at the union rate under the town's blue collar unit contract, starting November 23, subject to pre-employment paperwork and requirements. The appointee is a town employee named on the public record; this brief does not print the name.
A quote dated October 20 accepted for town sports court fencing materials, paid from a 2026 parks improvements budget line. Described from the dais as the lowest bid.
Installation is next year, after the courts are complete. Paving was set for November 9 with falling temperatures after, and the board expected to struggle to finish the lower courts this season.
The town agreed to place a plaque or commemorative marker when it purchased the property. The approved text honours a family who arrived in 1845 with four sons, volunteered and served in the Civil War, and whose descendants have lived on Harris Road for five generations. The marker text was credited to a named author.
The Supervisor added, as belief rather than record, that the family also once owned land now occupied by a quarry operation and a local park.
Minutes of the October 28 work session and town board meeting approved. Clubhouse applications approved as listed. A Historical Society presentation announced for November 10 at the Town Park Clubhouse, on a local cemetery; the Lions' playground project reported nearing final design. One unidentified item, not yet signed off, was held to the next meeting.
The public participation slot — one minute per speaker — drew nobody, and the meeting adjourned.
This brief corrects the record of our own reporting. Our October 28 brief observed that a 74-minute meeting in budget season contained no budget content and that none of the three hearings then scheduled was the budget hearing. That observation was accurate about that recording and incomplete about the town: the hearing was already set for November 4, and the board had moved the meeting a week earlier to accommodate Veterans Day. We named the innocent explanation at the time and we are naming the answer now.[3]
Two claims, no numbers. “Below the tax cap” and “the tax rate the same” are the only quantitative statements the town made about its own budget in public. Both are verifiable against the filed document and neither is verified here. A reader should treat them as the Supervisor's characterisation until the budget is read — note in particular that holding a tax rate flat is not the same as holding a levy flat, since a rate applied to a rising assessment roll yields more money.
No vote tallies. Every motion was a collective voice vote — “All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carried” — in which a dissent would be inaudible. This brief reports outcomes and describes no vote as unanimous. The minutes are the authority.
Names. The roster is human-verified in this pipeline against official Clarence minutes, and the transcriber mangles every member's surname in ways already mapped in our corrections file — the Supervisor appears as “Castillo,” Michnik as “Metcinek,” Shear as “Scherr” and DiCostanzo as “DiCastanzo.” The two residents present are named on the recording by first name only, by the Supervisor; we have not printed them. Employee and supplier names on the public record are likewise omitted where the individual appears only as a hire or a vendor.
Capture. 23.1-minute file; the first 13.6 minutes carry no speech and the proceedings run about 9.5 minutes from the pledge to adjournment, at 84% coverage within that window. 121 segments, 120 distinct, language confidence p=0.996. The recording continues briefly past the gavel with a member asking to be taken offline. A short meeting, fully captured.