CATSKILL — The Greene County Legislature’s Finance Committee approved a tentative 2024 budget at its meeting Monday.
The Legislature has proposed a $131 million spending package for 2024, reflecting an $8.8 million increase over the 2023 budget.
The proposed budget also includes an overall flat tax increase. The total tax levy will remain at $27,404,370, identical to the 2023 budget.
Although the tax levy remains flat, some towns will see property tax increases while others will see decreases.
The towns seeing property tax rate increases include Cairo (3.3%), Coxsackie (0.8%), Greenville (2%), Halcott (6.2%), Hunter (1.9%), Jewett (3.6%) and Prattsville (2.9%). Tax rates are expected to go down in Ashland (4.6%), Athens (33.1%), Catskill (7.7%), Durham (2%), Lexington (0.8%), New Baltimore (0.3%) and Windham (2.2%), according to the budget summary.
The proposed budget also reflects an increased use of the fund balance over last year’s budget by $650,000, for a total of $5.6 million in fund balance money used in the 2024 spending package.
The budget was approved 12-1, with Legislator Michael Bulich, R-Catskill, casting the lone dissenting vote.
“I believed the budget went up too much,” Bulich said. “I’m not a fan of having to increase the budget by $3 million because the state is reneging on Medicaid coverage.”
Bulich added that he was worried about the increased use of grants to fund items in the budget, and that if those grants are ever cut or eliminated, it will make it harder to shrink the budget in the future.
“We could’ve done better with this budget,” he said.
Legislator Matthew Luvera, R-Catskill, said at the meeting that the Legislature should hold budget workshops to determine if there is any potential for savings in some departments.
“Next year that might be something we all come together to help [Greene County Administrator] Shaun [Groden] with so the responsibility doesn’t just fall on him,” Luvera said. “All of us together, going through these departments and seeing, is there a way to perhaps cut a vacancy that we can’t fill anyway, and maybe give a little bit more money to the employees that are doing the jobs we have in place now.”
The budget also includes the county’s statement of debt as of Dec. 31, 2022. The total bond anticipation notes equal $39 million. Greene County Jail has the largest amount outstanding at $35 million, followed by $3.8 million for the 2016 Greene County Courthouse renovation, and $118,200 for Columbia-Greene Community College.
The full Legislature is expected to vote on the budget Wednesday.