County News | Albany County, New York

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builds on fiscal responsibility for the 9th consecutive year;
Announces New Workforce Development Plan and Funding for Advance Albany County Alliance and County Land Bank;
State Comptroller: 5th consecutive year of “no budgetary stress”

Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy today released his FY2022 executive budget. It comes after the last year marked by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and an extraordinary mobilization of resources to immunize county residents, the lingering financial fallout from the economic shutdown, and the rapid spread of the highly contagious delta variant that could potentially threaten our continued economic recovery.

Despite these challenges, the county executive presented the latest balanced spending plan that remains below the state-mandated property tax cap and maintains taxes at the same level for the ninth year in a row. As further evidence of fiscal responsibility, for the fifth year in a row, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has placed Albany County in the “No Budget Stress Designation” category, based on an impressive management record and budgetary growth. All of this was achieved without layoffs or cuts to programs and services.

“For nearly a decade now, I have prioritized keeping taxes stable and controlling spending to ensure Albany County remains an affordable place to live, work and raise a family. We haven’t done this by cutting back on the programs and services our residents rely on. every day, but by reducing government weight and using taxpayer dollars more efficiently. And by investing in economic development, addressing quality of life issues and attracting new people to Albany County, we are expanding our tax base, which will allow us to continue our success, ”said the County Manager McCoy.

“The pandemic has taught us that we must adapt and that we must strengthen our economy and our defenses for the challenges ahead. That is why we are investing $ 250,000 in the Advance Albany County Alliance to create more ‘jobs, we’ We’re sending an additional $ 250,000 to the Albany County Land Bank to tackle the scourge and improve our neighborhoods, and a new workforce development plan will strengthen and modernize the workforce. county work while prioritizing equity, ”he continued.

The balanced budget, totaling just over $ 753 million, represents a 4.75% increase over the adopted 2021 budget of $ 719.3 million. An average home of $ 200,000 will save about $ 6.00 on its tax bill. This is the fourth year in a row that the average homeowner will see their tax rate drop. The Albany County tax rate per $ 1,000 of equalized assessed value has increased from $ 3.95 to $ 3.45 since 2014.

For the fifth year in a row, the state comptroller has placed Albany County in the “No Tax Stress Designation” category.

Building on the McCoy County executive’s equity agenda, which he has prioritized over the years, and as part of the new comprehensive workforce development plan, the job titles and salaries found in the 2022 executive budget have been updated to ensure equity in the workforce. Not only will this create greater fairness for dedicated public servants and their duties, but it will also improve Albany County’s ability to attract a diverse group of highly talented and committed professionals into the county’s workforce. Additionally, the plan includes incentives for employees with improved longevity pay and improved medical, dental and visual plans.

The Advance Albany County Alliance is the local development corporation created by the county executive and the county legislature last year. It is the first economic development organization to focus solely on Albany County and strengthen its economy. The Alliance has played an important role in supporting and retaining local businesses and in setting up new long-term projects in the county, including the recently announced offshore wind turbine manufacturing sites at the Port of Albany and at the port of Coeymans.

The additional $ 250,000 allocated to the Albany County Land Bank brings total support to the organization to $ 3.5 million in direct support and canceled revenue owed to the county. The economic impact that our communities will face over the next few years will be severe and this is another weapon in our arsenal to fight the scourge and rot in our community.

2021 is the third year of statewide implementation of the Hurrell-Harring Indigent Legal Defense Reform that the McCoy County Executive has championed with our partners in the state legislature. The statewide implementation directly funds ten additional new items and expenditures with additional funding of $ 1.4 million for 2021. The program is fully reimbursed by New York State and will improve defense legal aid by increasing access to quality defense and reducing the number of cases for county defense attorneys.

County Executive McCoy continues to take action to prevent and prepare for climate change, including purchasing and converting county street lights to LEDs, which will generate long-term savings and reduce our emissions by 29.3 metric tons per year. , and by entering into community solar contracts for the three installations in the county that consume the most electricity. Additionally, the county executive recently announced plans to partner with the counties of Suffolk and Westchester to enter into a shared services purchase agreement to reduce costs associated with the conversion of the county’s fleet of vehicles to ‘Albany by fully electric vehicles by 2030.

Executive budget 2022

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