Ulster County executive Jen Metzger delivered her 2025 executive budget address at New Paltz justice court on October 1, highlighting a $432-million spending proposal. Despite being $20 million higher than the current year’s plan, if adopted the 2025 budget will keep property taxes flat.
Among the focuses in the proposed budget are infrastructure and transportation investments, action on the region’s housing crisis, boosting emergency medical services, providing greater environmental protection; and expanding opportunities for youth, veterans and businesses.
Ulster County received the lowest possible score on the state comptroller’s annual fiscal stress score this year, Metzger said. “While this is great news, I look not just at today’s financial picture but also at what that picture could look like five years down the road. We have to be prudent stewards of the county’s fiscal health and keep an eye on escalating costs.”
One way of keeping costs down, Metzger said, was by consolidating some functions of government under two new departments, a Department of General Services and a Department of Risk Management. The former will include purchasing, central services like mail and printing, and the centralization of contract and accounting support for smaller county units.
The Department of Risk Management will absorb the current safety and insurance departments. “The new department will oversee the safety training program, ensure that county facilities and operations are compliant with regulations, monitor risk exposure, and develop risk mitigation plans that guard against financial losses,” Metzger said.
The county executive expressed optimism that agreements with all five of its unions. “What we cannot do is balance the budget on the backs of our employees,” she said. “We have to fairly compensate them and strengthen our ability to recruit and retain a quality workforce.”
According to Metzger, around $9 million of the new spending in her budget proposal will be covered by federal and state grants. An additional revenue of roughly $3 million is anticipated due to the increase in the county occupancy tax from 2 to 4 percent.
An unrestricted fund balance of 15 to 20 percent earns interest and serves as a rainy-day fund. The executive budget proposes a 19.9 percent unrestricted fund balance. Another reserve fund for bridge repairs puts aside $10 million to repair to build resilient infrastructure.
The budget also proposes staffing increases at the Department of Public Works.
The executive budget also touts the “Better Homes for All” initiative to help income-eligible renters and homeowners make environmentally sound and cost-conscious energy upgrades.
“It’s not just new buildings that need to be future-proofed, it’s also our existing housing,” Metzger said. “My house, like every other house on my road, was built in the 1880s and was an absolute bear to heat. We insulated the attic and basement, and our monthly energy bills dropped dramatically. But the upfront cost of that improvement is more than struggling households can afford.”
The increase in occupancy tax will be partly used to implement a nearly-completed route optimization study to address the needs of the county’s riders, Metzger said.
Metzger also pledged to enhance emergency medical services (EMS) “through recruitment, training, equipment, and support for multi-jurisdictional approaches to address service gaps,” working with SUNY Ulster to bolster EMS certification programs, expand county training, and establish an EMS Advisory Board “to ensure continued collaboration to raise the level of care for residents.”
The budget proposal tackles education by increasing operational support for Ulster County Community College by $200,000, up to $7.1 million.
The county Economic Development Department is applying for $300,000 in state funds for a microgrant program supporting entrepreneurs and small-businesses, particularly those often shut out of traditional financing. It also provides the county’s $1.2-million revolving loan fund for low-interest loans to support small businesses, including minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses.
A second round of green grants use the county’s federally funded $2.5-million solar and EV charging programs for municipal governments, including funding for the hiring of on-site energy managers for two years.
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