County unveils $319M budget
Tentative spending plan includes new public safety building
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. » Saratoga County on Wednesday unveiled a $319.6 million tentative budget for 2018 that includes a property tax rate of $2.29 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, a slight reduction from this year’s figure.
General Fund spending is up approximately $16 million, almost all of it tied to a proposed new public safety building that’s scheduled to open by mid-2019.
But the project is not expected to impact taxes because debt service from a previous radio system is being retired at the same time bonds for the public safety facility are issued. Also, it’s hoped that state and/or federal aid will help fund the job, which Board of Supervisors Chairman Ed Kinowski, of Stillwater, described as his top priority for 2018.
“An important part of this budget is the investment being made
in our public safety and public health departments,” he said. “In order to continue the fight against the opioid pandemic and meet the increasing needs of our growing county, investments in these areas are crucial to maintaining the high quality of life Saratoga County is known for.”
The roughly 47,500-square-foot building, constructed near the county jail in Ballston Spa, will house the sheriff’s administration, probation, emergency services and public health departments. The sheriff’s office in particular is currently in extremely cramped quarters, Kinowski said.
Saratoga County is still one of the state’s lowest-taxed counties, despite $60 million in unfunded state mandates, and a state-imposed property tax cap that keeps the county from realizing the full benefit of a rapidly growing tax base, county Administrator Spencer Hellwig said.
The more than $58 million Saratoga County gets in property tax is not enough to pay for $60.7 million in unfunded state programs such as Medicaid, which alone costs the county $26 million. Pensions are another $9.2 million.
“The county has no control over how these programs are administered or delivered,” Hellwig said. “All we do is write the checks.”
Countywide, real property value rose $786 million in the past year, primarily because of largescale residential and commercial construction in Halfmoon, Clifton Park and Saratoga Springs. Such growth increases the cost of providing roads, water and sewer service, even though the tax cap limits revenue generated by new construction, Hellwig said.
The budget calls for spending $4.5 million and $2.1 million on highway and bridge reconstruction, respectively.
Sales tax, the county’s largest revenue stream, totals $119.3 million. Of this, $58.9 million is slated for distribution to towns and cities in the county. The county keeps the balance.
A 2 percent cost of living raise is proposed for all county employees. Much of 2018 will be spent negotiating three union contracts that expire at the end of next year. They are for CSEA employees, sheriff’s road patrol deputies and county jail corrections officers.
No new positions are called for in the 2018 spending plan. But this could change during upcoming budget sessions when supervisors consider requests from various department heads.
If jobs are added, money will likely come from surplus fund balance totaling $26 million, Kinowski said.
Law and Finance Committee budget hearings are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14, followed by a budget workshop on Monday, Nov. 20. A public hearing on the tentative budget, with proposed amendments, is set for 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
Supervisors are expected to adopt the budget on Wednesday, Dec. 13.