Legislature unanimously adopts 2019 budget
The budget is the 8th consecutive budget to stay under the tax cap
TROY, N.Y. >> In what was a unanimous vote, the 2019 Rensselaer County budget was adopted at a special meeting of the County Legislature Monday night.
The eighth consecutive county budget to stay under the tax cap and the first such under Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin does not increase taxes, maintains services and protects positive ratings.
“This budget is good news for residents and taxpayers, with the county avoiding a tax increase and remaining under the state tax cap for the eighth consecutive year,” McLaughlin noted of the fiscally prudent budget. “Rensselaer County is one of only a handful of counties to have stayed under the tax cap each year since it
was implemented.”
“I want to thank Budget Director Stacey Farrar and the budget team for their hard work on the budget, and also extend thanks to Chair of the Legislature Mike Stammel and legislators who supported the 2019 spending plan. We believe this budget will continue the positive momentum and progress in our county,” McLaughlin added of the work put into the successful budget.
McLaughlin also highlighted on expansion of retail and residential bases in the county.
“Our county is fortunate to have seen significant job creation and expansion of our retail and residential bases. This budget is a reflection of those positive developments, which is a benefit for our taxpayers and residents,” McLaughlin said of the county, which is expected to see increased economic expansion with an Amazon distribution center in Schodack and more jobs at Regeneron in East Greenbush, as well as a host of new small businesses.
“This is a strong budget, and one that will help encourage employers and investors to seriously consider our county as the place to be to start or expand a business or make a home here,” McLaughlin added.
County legislators were also pleased with the overall budget.
“This is a fiscally sound budget that continues to provide the services our residents rely on, while not raising taxes. County Executive McLaughlin and his staff worked hard on the budget and in a true bi-partisan spirit, it was approved unanimously by the Legislature’” Chairman of the Legislature Michael Stammel said.
“I was happy to see all of the work by the department heads that all brought their budgets in line. There is no tax levy, the same as last year, so that’s always good news to the taxpayer, no tax increase. Would I have liked to have seen a tax decrease? Yes. But in my tenure, I’ve never seen that only increases, so it’s nice to see there be no increase for the taxpayers of Rensselaer County,” Minority Leader of the Legislature Peter Grimm noted on the budget.
Although Grimm and other minority legislators voted in favor of the budget, Grimm did note that he wishes some items weren’t included in the budget.
“There were some unprecedented raises in some of the budgets in the department of the County Executive’s office and we had wished they weren’t included in the budget, but the overall of not having any [tax] increase shows a responsible attempt on the part of the county and the legislature to fulfill their obligation to the residents of Rensselaer County, so it was a good budget this year,” Grimm said of what he would’ve altered with the budget.
“We would like to look into selling property owned that the county does not use for a revenue source. We’d like to see continued efforts for municipal sharing of services, incentives that have and could have a potential of saving taxpayers more money and giving relief to our budget each year,” Grimm added of what he’d like to see going forward.
In his first year as Executive, McLaughlin employed an efficient approach by helping hold the line on taxes. During the first three quarters of 2018, Rensselaer County saved nearly $1 million in savings in personnel costs during 2018, chief ly by keeping positions unfilled, or vacant for an extended period. New purchasing efficiencies and strategies saved the county $600,000. A savings of $500,000 were created by the county for retiree health care, with $300,000 to be saved by retirees annually.
In addition to the savings, the county made investments in key areas during 2018. An additional $500,000 was allotted for paving projects in 2018, and just under $700,000 spent on highway equipment.
The 2019 budget maintains strong reserves for the county, within prescribed limits set by the State Comptroller. The county has reserves of over $30 million, with the 2019 budget coming in at $347 million.
Whi l e opt i mist i c , McLaughlin concluded there would still be challenges stemming from unfunded state mandates.
“Sadly, we must once again join county leaders across the state in asking leaders in Albany to adopt comprehensive reform of unfunded mandates. Failure to reform these mandates will mean continued heavy pressure on taxpayers and needed services, which is unfair on the local level,” McLaughlin said.