Albany County Government: County Executive McCoy Releases 2022 Executive Budget

Press release from the Albany County Government:

10/12/2021 12:15 pm

Builds on Fiscal Responsibility for 9th Consecutive Year;
Announces New Workforce Development Plan & New Funding for Advance Albany County Alliance & the County Land Bank;
State Comptroller: 5th Consecutive Year of ‘No Fiscal Stress'

Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy today released his Executive Budget for fiscal year 2022. It comes after the last year marked by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and an extraordinary mobilization of resources to vaccinate 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 stays under the state mandated property tax cap and keeps taxes flat for the ninth consecutive year. As an additional showing of fiscal responsibility, for the fifth year in a row, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has placed Albany County in a category of "No Designation of Fiscal Stress," based on an impressive record of fiscal management and growth. This all has been achieved without layoffs or cuts to programs and services.

"For nearly a decade now, I have prioritized keeping taxes flat and controlling spending to ensure that Albany County remains an affordable place to live, work and raise a family. We've done this not by cutting the programs and services our residents rely on each day, but by making government leaner and using taxpayer dollars more efficiently. And by investing in economic development, addressing quality of life issues, and attracting new individuals to call Albany County home, we're expanding our tax base that will allow us to continue our success," said County Executive McCoy.

"The pandemic has taught us that we need to be adaptable, and we need to strengthen our economy and our defenses for the challenges that are ahead. That's why we're investing $250,000 into the Advance Albany County Alliance to create more jobs, we're sending another $250,000 in the Albany County Land Bank to address blight and improve our neighborhoods, and a new Workforce Development Plan will strengthen and modernize the county workforce while prioritizing equity," he continued.

The balanced budget, totaling just over $753 million, represents a 4.75% increase from last year's 2021 Adopted Budget of $719.3 million. The average $200,000 home will save an estimated $6.00 on their tax bill. This is the fourth year in a row that the average property owner will see their tax rate decrease. The Albany County tax rate per $1,000 of equalized assessed value has gone down from $3.95 to $3.45 since 2014.

For the fifth consecutive year the State Comptroller has placed Albany County in a category of "No Designation of Fiscal Stress."

Building off of County Executive McCoy's Equity Agenda, which he has prioritized over the years, and as part of the new Comprehensive Workforce Development Plan, job titles and salaries found within the 2022 Executive Budget have been updated to ensure there is equity across the workforce. Not only will this create greater fairness for dedicated public servants and their job duties, it will also improve Albany County's ability to attract a diverse group of highly talented and committed professionals to the county workforce. Additionally, the plan involves employee incentives with improved longevity pay and improved medical, dental and vision 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 with the sole focus on Albany County and strengthening its economy. The Alliance has played an important role in supporting and retaining local businesses, and bringing in new long-term projects to the county, including the recently announced offshore wind turbine manufacturing sites at the Port of Albany and the Port of Coeymans.

The additional $250,000 allotted for the Albany County Land Bank brings the total support for the organization to $3.5 million in direct support and forgiven revenue due back to the County. The economic impact that our communities will be facing over the next few years will be harsh and this is another weapon in our arsenal to combat blight and decay in our community.

2021 is the third year of statewide implementation of the Hurrell-Harring indigent legal defense reform that County Executive McCoy championed with our partners in the State Legislature. Statewide implementation directly funds ten new positions and additional expenses with an additional $1.4 million in funding for 2021. The program is fully reimbursed by New York State and will improve indigent legal defense by increasing access to quality defense and reducing caseloads for the County's defense attorneys.

County Executive McCoy continues to take action to prevent and prepare for climate change, including purchasing and converting the County's streetlights to LED's, which will generate long term cost savings and reduce our emissions by 29.3 metric tons per year, and entering into community solar contracts for the county's three facilities that use the most electricity. Additionally, the County Executive recently announced plans to partner with Suffolk and Westchester Counties to join a shared services purchasing agreement to reduce the costs associated with converting Albany County's vehicle fleet to full-electric by 2030.

2022 Executive Budget

This press release was produced by the Albany County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.