Albany County Legislature adopts $753M 2022 budget
N.Y. » The Albany County Legislature adopted the County’s spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
With a focus on enhancing youth programming, encouraging economic development, and modernizing the County workforce, the 2022 budget creates a framework to ensure a safe and thriving county, while providing relief to taxpayers.
“Our priorities of continuing to keep our county safe during the pandemic, making key investments in our future through youth and community development programming and unleashing Albany County’s job creation and economic development potential are all here in this spending plan,” Chairman Andrew Joyce said.
“We thank Audit and Finance Chairwoman Wanda Willingham and our Audit and Finance Committee members for their diligent work, as well as County Executive Dan McCoy and his team for presenting a sound and feasible proposal to build on,” Joyce noted.
Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy presented his proposal to the Legislature on Oct. 12, totaling $753 million. During the past few weeks, the Legislature has worked diligently with different agencies and departments making various alterations to the final spending plan to ensure that all priorities are accounted for. The tax levy totals $99,752,250, and with a tax rate of $3.45 per $1,000 of equalized value, property owners will see a slight decrease in 2022.
With youth programming an ongoing priority, one of the various adjustments and programmatic additions made by the Legislature was an additional $15,000 for the Department of Recreation to create additional opportunities throughout the County. In that vein, the Legislature has ensured that the Community Development, Public Health, and Safety Fund will continue providing funding for after-school programming that is key to engaging youth, workforce development programs, and other public health and safety initiatives.
As Albany County continues to feel the impacts of the pandemic, economic development also continues to be a priority. As such, $250,000 has been allocated to the County’s Economic Development budget for the continued support of the Advance Albany County Alliance Local Development Corporation and ongoing economic recovery efforts. This investment will go a long way in keeping Albany open for business. Another $75,000 was allocated for the purpose of helping the Chairman’s Legislative Task Forces address a variety of topics including resources for small businesses, tackling blight, minority health equity, legislative modernization and more.
“I am proud of the 2022 financial plan which ensures that we continue to improve our support programs across all areas of the County so our residents are getting the resources and services where they need it the most,” Audit and Finance Chairwoman Wanda Willingham stated.
“I want to thank my colleagues in the Legislature for their support on a comprehensive budget which creates more youth programming to keep our children safe, addresses health and wellness in our minority communities amid the pandemic and promotes economic development in all our communities. Our residents must be a priority and I think this budget enforces that,” Willingham explained.
Conversely, Minority Leader Frank Mauriello (R-Colonie) was critical of the size of the budget.
“Tonight, the Minority Conference stood firm and opposed an inflated budget that does little good for taxpayers in Albany County,” Mauriello stated.
“Soaring gas prices. Higher cost for groceries. Deaths of our loved ones. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused great hardship for our county and counties across the state,” Mauriello continued.
“However, Albany Democrats have shown little regard to these tumultuous times and have elected to pass an overblown county budget that increases their own staff’s salaries. Instead, we should be making fiscally sound choices that benefit our taxpayers,” Mauriello explained.
“Neighboring counties, such as Rensselaer and Dutchess, have paved the way to provide real financial relief by using stimulus funding to reduce taxes. As many middle-class families struggle to stay afloat, we should be following suit. Instead, Albany Democrats are sticking to business as usual,”
Mauriello noted.
“Our friends and families are hurting, yet this budget failed to deliver for them. Going forward, I hope county leadership will pay closer attention to the needs of its residents and spend more responsibly. The Legislative budget does not make any cuts to County services and program offerings. Expected revenues from sales tax collections are forecasted to offset spending increases in the final budget,” Mauriello added.
Another point of contention was Resolution 513, which was voted down by the legislature. The proposed resolution sought reimbursement for the County’s Sheriff Department for overtime and other related costs due to the increased public safety patrols in the City of Albany.
“By calling an immediate vote, Chairman Joyce stifled debate and revealed that Democrats clearly don’t want to discuss the city of Albany’s monopolizing of public safety resources designed to protect the entire county,” Mauriello stated.
“Long-standing mismanagement of the Albany Police Department has forced Sheriff Apple to divert patrols away from areas of the county without a police force in an effort to make up for police shortages within the city,” Mauriello continued.
“While some argue that the City of Albany needs this added police presence to account for daily commuters from outside the county, the same could be said for municipalities like the Town of Colonie. The difference is that Colonie effectively provides outstanding public safety without exploiting county police resources,” Mauriello explained.
“Not only is it unfair to the taxpayers outside the city who pay and lose services, but this opens up the county to new liabilities as well. I have asked before and will continue to ask that our deputies be indemnified by the city and exempt from the Albany Civilian Review Board,” Mauriello noted.
Mauriello said his conference will reintroduce the resolution in January calling on the city of Albany to pay for the extraordinary sheriff’s patrols. The measure will require a contract for services going forward.
“We look forward to a lengthier discussion on our resolution in January and hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will be open to a democratic debate,” Mauriello added.
Yet, Joyce responded to what he believed was the real intention behind the resolution.
“This was never about getting reimbursement from the City of Albany. Resolutions introduced in the December prior to an organizational year, which 2022 is, are either voted on or they are removed from the agendas at the turn of the new year. This has been a longstanding process. Knowing that it would have to be reintroduced in January, the Minority Conference still introduced Resolution 513. This wasn’t about accomplishing a legislative goal, it was about generating publicity. Our members rightfully voted down this problematic legislation. We are one Albany County and we stand together in times of trouble,” Joyce stated.
The Legislative budget does not make any cuts to County services and program offerings. Expected revenues from sales tax collections are forecasted to offset spending increases in the final budget.
“In our second fiscal year impacted by Covid-19, we have provided a budget that both addresses those challenges and further meets the needs of the people of Albany County. The budget maintains the high levels of services the people have come to expect and rely on from County government, while also rewarding our county workforce for their hard work and years of dedicated services,” Majority Leader Dennis Feeney stated.
“As Majority Leader, I commend my fellow Legislators, our Chairman Andrew Joyce and County Executive McCoy for their hard work throughout this process, and believe this budget reflects the strong Democratic Leadership the people of Albany County have come to trust,” Feeney added.