LEGISLATURE STUFF - Lions and Tigers and Budgets, Oh My

CATSKILL - Adoption of the Columbia-Greene Community College 2024/25 budget by the Greene County Legislature means release of the next spending plan for the county is not far behind.

Lawmakers, at their regular monthly meeting in August, gave approval of the college fiscal package following earlier public hearings.

Their overall budget is $20,292,283, an increase of $172,201 from a year ago, with the Greene County portion likewise going up.

We local mules of taxation will be contributing $21,790 more than over the previous twelve months while Columbia County will be paying the exact same amount less, according to budget figures.

While the Greene County bottom line has risen, “the percentages are the same,” says legislature chairman Patrick Linger, referring to the annual taxation split between the neighboring counties.

Greene and Columbia counties will be responsible for $6,448,350, with Greene paying $3,044,454 and Columbia $3,403,896, factored upon student enrollment, etc.

The jump of 21 G’s is not troublesome, according to county administrator Shaun Groden who says, “in a budget of six million dollars (for the two counties), that is not really significant.”

And the county is pleased with their return on the money. “We will continue to give $50,000 per semester to the college foundation,” Groden says, above and beyond the budget  allocation.

Greene County earmarks $100,000 for the school year in support of local students to help offset the cost of tuition, books, bridge tolls, travel, etc.

“The program has been extremely successful. We get numerous letters from students thanking us profusely for helping keep them in the classroom,” Groden says.

Content with the education side of things, Groden was equally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about the prospects for the overall county budget which has not seen an overall tax levy uptick in the last five years.

“Right now, I’m saying no increase for the sixth straight year,” Groden says, expecting to unveil the tentative figures in early October, setting the stage for public hearings in November.

While the county numbers are expected to remain unchanged, it remains to be seen how individual towns will be impacted.

“We anticipate holding steady but the caution is, ‘how will the money be divided between the fourteen towns?’” Groden says.

“Everything is dependent upon the real estate equalization rates in thos towns,” Groden says, with wide fluctuations evident.

Equalization rates are set by the State, based upon assessed valuations of properties compared to actual market value.

Those equalization rates will determine each town’s financial responsibility toward the county budget, possibly resulting in the levy in some towns increasing even as the county levy stays flat.

The further from 100 percent valuation, the better the chances a town’s share will rise, with town’s closer to 100 percent likely locked in.

“It is a complicated system and the real estate market has been crazy the past 36 months, compounding the situation,” Groden says.

“A house may be assessed, let’s say, for $100,000 but it sold for $340,000,” Groden says, noting the equalization rate within the town of Hunter is currently only 29 percent, not a positive sign.

In a matter related to Columbia-Greene Community College, lawmakers appointed Susan Timan Austin to their Board of Trustees.

Timan is a resident of the town of Athens. Her appointment is for a seven-year term, commencing August 22, 2025, expiring on June 30, 2031.

And in a series of resolutions connected to local schools, lawmakers approved agreements between them and the county sheriff’s office.

The agreements renew the School Resource Officer programs that bring certified law enforcement officers into the schools.

Schools pay $69,605 per year for each officer requested, including Cairo-Durham, Catskill, Coxsackie-Athens, Greenville, Hunter-Tannersville, Windham-Ashland-Jewett and Marilyn A. Noonan in Durham.