Election 2021: State, Local Propositions Fill Back Of Ballot

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Hudson Valley voters in the 2021 general election will find five statewide propositions on the back of the ballot, and voters in Dutchess, Ulster and Westchester will see countywide ones as well.

Also, local propositions are on ballots for voters in Poughkeepsie, seven Ulster municipalities and two Westchester municipalities.

The state propositions cover five changes to New York's constitution, according to Patch news partner The City: the future of political representation in Albany, environmental protections, easier voter registration and absentee balloting, and how New York City's civil courts function. "The first ballot proposal is really several questions rolled into one, all on the subject of redistricting," reporters for The City wrote.

Proposition One: This proposed constitutional amendment would freeze the number of state senators at 63, amend the process for the counting of the state’s population, delete certain provisions that violate the United States Constitution, repeal and amend certain requirements for the appointment of the co-executive directors of the redistricting commission and amend the manner of drawing district lines for congressional and state legislative offices.

Proposition Two: The proposed amendment to Article I of the New York Constitution would establish the right of each person to clean air and water and a healthful environment.

Proposition Three: Section 5 of Article II of the New York Constitution now requires that a citizen be registered to vote at least 10 days before an election. The proposed amendment would delete that requirement. If this amendment is adopted, the Legislature will be authorized to enact laws permitting a citizen to register to vote less than 10 days before the election.

Proposition Four: This would eliminate the requirement that a voter provide a reason for voting by absentee ballot. The proposed amendment would do so by deleting the requirement currently in the Constitution that restricts absentee voting to people under one of two specific circumstances: (1) those who expect to be absent from the county of their residence, or from New York City for residents of that city, on Election Day, and (2) those who are unable to appear at their polling place because of illness or physical disability.

Proposition Five: The proposed amendment would increase the New York City Civil Court’s jurisdiction by allowing it to hear and decide claims for up to $50,000 instead of the current jurisdictional limit of $25,000.

Learn more about the state propositions here: What The Five Ballot Proposal Questions Mean For New Yorkers This November

Three counties in the Hudson Valley have propositions on the ballot.

Dutchess County has one, on updating the rules and procedures of the Independent Reapportionment Committee and reducing the size of the Dutchess County Legislature from 25 to 21 members.

Ulster County has one, on using funds designated for payroll expenses within the County budget:

"Shall the amendment to the Ulster County Charter approved as Proposed Local Law # 8 of 2020,
prohibiting the transfer of payroll related expenditures designated for Ulster County employment
positions as itemized in the annual budget, to other budgetary lines during the course of a year be
adopted and become part of the Ulster County Charter?"

Westchester County has one, on ethics standards for government officials:

Proposition One asks voters to approve the county devising a new and comprehensive code of ethics, including a detailed code of conduct, updated disclosure requirements, and clarifying the structure and authority of the Board of Ethics.

In addition, there are local propositions in these municipalities:

Poughkeepsie

• Library budget. Shall the 2022 library budget be approved and should the Board of Trustees authorize expenditures of $9,798,342.

Marlborough

• Superintendent of Highways term of office. Shall the term of office of the Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Marlborough be increased from two years to four years commencing January 1, 2022?

Town of New Paltz

• Increase to the operating budget of the Elting Memorial Library. "SHALL THE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOWN OF NEW PALTZ FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE ELTING MEMORIAL LIBRARY BE INCREASED BY ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($100,000) TO THE SUM OF SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY­ SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS ($656,000) ANNUALLY"

Village of New Paltz

• INCREASE TO THE VILLAGE OF NEW PALTZ VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER SERVICE AWARD PROGRAM. Should the Village of New Paltz Volunteer Firefighter Service Award Program be increased from $700.00 per qualified active volunteer firefighter to $1,200.00 per qualified active volunteer firefighter for each calendar year beginning after December 31, 2021, bringing the annual cost from a potential total of $24,500.00 if all current active volunteers earned a year of service credit under the point system to a potential total of $42,000.00 per year with no change to the current annual administrative costs incurred by the Village?

Town of Olive

• Funding Proposition for the Olive Free Library Association. SHALL THE ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOWN OF OLIVE FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE OLIVE FREE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BE INCREASED FROM THE SUM ONE HUNDRED FORTY EIGHT THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED FORTY TW0($148, 142.00) TO ONE HUNDRED SIXTY EIGHT THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED FORTY TWO ($168, 142.00) ANNUALLY?

Town of Shandaken

• Funding Proposition for the Morton Memorial and Phoenicia Libraries. "SHALL THE TOWN OF SHANDAKEN INCREASE ITS ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE MORTON MEMORIAL LIBRARY BY TEN THOUSAND ($10,000) DOLLARS TO THE SUM OF FIFTY-FOUR THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY ($54,750) DOLLARS ANNUALLY; AND SHALL THE TOWN OF SHANDAKEN INCREASE ITS ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET OF THE PHOENICIA LIBRARY BY TEN THOUSAND ($10,000) DOLLARS TO THE SUM OF ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO THOUSAND ($182,000) DOLLARS ANNUALLY?"

Town of Ulster

• Proposition to create Office of Town Comptroller "Shall Local Law No. _1_ of 2021, entitled 'A Local Law Providing for the Creation of an Office of Town Comptroller,' be approved?"

Town of Woodstock

• A BOND RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CONSTRUCTION, RECONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, ANDIMPROVEMENTS TO THE TOWN OFFICES. Shall the bond resolution adopted by the Town Board on July 20, 2021, authorizing the Town of Woodstock to (a) undertake the construction, reconstruction, renovation, and installation of various improvements to the Town Offices (the “Project”), at a maximum estimated cost not to exceed $2,990,000, and (b) finance such Project by the issuance of bonds and/or notes of the Town in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $1,000,000, with the remaining $1,990,000 of the estimated maximum cost of the Project to be paid from the Town’s Capital Project Fund, be approved?

Village of Mount Kisco

• The Mount Kisco Police Department was disbanded in 2015, and Westchester County police have provided patrol and investigative services by contract since then. A proposition on the ballot seeks to codify that change with Local Law No. 2 of 2021, entitled "A Local Law to dissolve the Village of Mount Kisco Police Department and replace same with contracted police services."

City of Peekskill

• The Field Library is requesting voter support for a $75,000 increase in the 2022 operating budget of the library to offset revenue loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, to meet minimum wage increases, and to fund operating expenses relating to its expansion. Additionally, this increase will allow the library to increase the programming and materials budgets to provide quality services and averages a $3.48 annual increase per Peekskill household for the year.

Town of Stony Point

• "Shall the Town Board Resolution authorizing the sale of the Patriot Hills Golf Course and the Former Letchworth Village property be approved?"
• "Shall the annual contribution of the Town of Stony Point for the operating budget of the Rose Memorial Library Association be increased by $70,000 to the sum of $325,000 annually?"