After an hour long discussion and public hearing, the town board voted 5 to 1 to override the state tax levy limit on Thursday night.
That allows the proposed 5.48 percent tax increase to stand as the 2019 budget process moves forward.
"When we learned that is was 3.45 percent, we can't cover everything in that," said Colonie Town Supervisor Paula Mahan, referring to the tax cap.
Under the current budget proposal, the median homeowner will have to pay $2.43 per month or just over $29 a year.
Mahan says one reason for the increase are the contracts negotiated for the town's seven unions. They had agreed to salary freezes in 2017 and 2018 in exchange for raises in 2019 and 2020.
"It's not something that you can't do. You have to negotiate at some point," Mahan said.
Mahan also cited health insurance costs going up for the proposed increase.
However, not everyone was for it. Some said overriding the cap for this tax increase sets up to a bad precedent.
The proposed budget is now headed for a public hearing at the next town board meeting on November 8.